6 


\ 

BRIEF 

HISTORY 

OF 

OLD 

FORT 

NIAGARA 


California 
gional 

'ility 


A  BRIEF   HISTORY 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA 


PETER   A.   PORTER. 


PHOTOGRAPHS  BY  ORRIN  E.  DUNLAP. 


NIAGARA   FALLS. 
1896. 


COPYRIGHT,  1896,  BY  PETER  A.  PORTER. 


THE  MATTHEWS-XORTHRUP  I 
BUFFALO,  N.  V. 


THIS   SKETCH 
OF    THE 

HISTORY    OF    OLD    FORT    NIAGARA 

IS    INSCRIBED    TO    THE    MEMORY    OF 

ORSAMUS  H.  MARSHALL, 

THE    HISTORIAN    OF    THE    NIAGARA    FRONTIER, 

AT    WHOSE    SUGGESTION 
THE    AUTHOR    COMMENCED    THE    STUDY 

OF    THE 
HISTORY    OF    THIS    LOCALITY. 


2026870 


INTRODUCTION. 


r  I  ^HE  TITLE  of  this  pamphlet,  read  literally,  correctly 
states  the  aim  of  the  author.  His  desire  has  been 
to  write  a  "BRIEF"  history  of  "OLD"  Fort  Niagara. 

Of  the  history  of  "  modern "  Fort  Niagara,  that  is, 
from  1825,  since  which  time  it  has  not  been  considered  a 
defensive  work,  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  treat. 

Numerous  authorities  have  been  quoted  in  support  of 
historical  facts  ;  many  more  might  have  been  quoted.  To 
those  who  read  this  article  from  a  desire  to  study  the 
history  of  Fort  Niagara  these  references  will  be  valuable. 
It  has  also  been  thought  desirable  to  make  liberal  quotations 
from  documents  and  books  referred  to. 


A  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA. 


.IAGARA  is  without  exception  the  most  important 
post  in  America  and  secures  a  greater  number  of 
communications,  through  a  more  extensive  coun- 
try, than  perhaps  any  other  pass  in  the  world."  So 
wrote  Mr.  Wynne  in  1770,'  and  he  undoubtedly 
expressed  the  opinion  which  both  the  French  and 
the  English  then  held  and  had  held  for  the  preced- 
ing hundred  years. 
For  probably  no  one  spot  of  land  in  North  America,  the  Heights 
of  Quebec  and  the  lower  end  of  Manhattan  Island  alone  excepted, 
had  played  so  important  a  part,  been  so  coveted  and  exerted  so  great 
an  influence,  both  in  peace  and  war,  on  the  control,  on  the  growth, 
on  the  settlement  and  on  the  civilization  of  the  country,  as  this  little 
point  of  land  at  the  mouth  of  and  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Niag- 
ara River,  bounded  on  one  side  by  that  river  and  on  the  other  side  by 
Lake  Ontario. 

And  both  Quebec  and  Manhattan  Island  had  been  settled  for  half 
a  century  before  La  Salle  first  saw  this  spot,  whose  importance  as  a 
stragetic  point,  in  peace,  in  war,  and  in  the  interest  of  the  fur  trade 
he  at  once  recognized;  and  as  from  La  Salle  came  the  first  suggestion 
of  a  fort  here,  with  his  name  must  its  earliest  history  be  forever 
linked. 

And  for  nearly  one  hundred  years  after  La  Salle's  first  visit,  the 
ministers  and  statesmen  of  both  France  and  England,  backed  by  all 
the  power  of  their  respective  kingdoms,  aided  by  their  armies,  their 
great  generals  and  all  their  experienced  colonial  officers  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest,  made  the  possession  and  fortification  of  this 
small  piece  of  land  one  of  the  main  objective  points  of  their  respec- 
tive policies  regarding  their  American  possessions. 

The  Niagara  River  "  Onguiaahra,  the  famous  river  of  the  Neuter 
Nation,"  had  been  well  known  to  the  Jesuit  missionaries  as  early  as 
1  British  Empire  in  America,  vol.  II,  page  102.     Note. 

9 


10  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA  IN  HISTORY. 

1640, '  and  by  hearsay  since  at  least  1626;  and  the  fact  that  a 
great  fall  interrupted  the  passage  of  the  Indians  on  their  westward 
journeys  had  been  announced  by  Lescarbot  in  his  "  Histoire  de  la 
Nouvelle  France,"  published  in  i6o9,2  in  his  description  of  Cartier's 
second  voyage  to  America,  made  in  1535. 

And  it  was  the  knowledge  of  a  carrying  place  around  these  falls 
that  pointed  out  to  those  engaged  in,  and  ambitious  to  control,  the 
fur  trade  with  the  Western  Indians,  in  which  list  La  Salle  stands 
out  prominently,  that  a  fortified  store  house  at  or  near  the  end  of 
this  portage  would  be  a  priceless  advantage  to  its  possessors. 

And  during  the  long  period  above  referred  to  when  France  and 
England  were  making  every  effort  to  gain  control  of  this  locality,  the 
fur  traders  rendered  valuable  services  in  furtherance  of  the  ambitions 
of  their  respective  nations,  although,  of  course,  these  fur  traders'  object 
was  a  purely  mercenary  one. 

But  the  Indians,  prompted  thereto  partly  by  the  always  enduring 
feuds  between  the  Huron  and  Iroquois  stocks,  but  mainly  by  their 
keen  insight  into  the  real  ambitions  of  the  white  men  —  faithful  and 
friendly  to  the  French  and  the  English  alternately,  but  only  as  fear 
of  their  strength  or  benefits  to  be  derived  from  them  impelled  — 
clearly  foresaw  the  danger  to  their  race  if  a  stronghold  was  ever 
obtained  at  the  portage,  and  persistently  refused  to  allow  one  to  be 
erected  ;  and  it  was  only  after  a  struggle  of  50  years  that  France 
succeeded  in  getting  near  this  spot  a  fortified  structure,  that  prom- 
ised to  be,  and  though  soon  after  removed  seven  miles  distant  to  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  proved  to  be,  a  permanency. 

THE    INDIAN    TITLE   TO    THE    LAND. 

In  tracing  the  history  of  Fort  Niagara,  it  is  desirable  for  us,  es- 
pecially so  far  as  the  earliest  claims  of  ownership  of  the  territory 
in  which  it  is  located  by  France  and  England,  are  concerned,  to  look 
first  at  the  Indian  title  to  the  land  and  their  disposition  thereof. 

As  far  back  as  we  can  get  any  authentic  knowledge  whatsoever 
the  Neuter  Nation  owned  and  occupied  this  spot.  They  were  prob- 
ably a  powerful  offshoot  from  the  great  Huron-Iroquois  stock, 
and  occupied  all  the  territory  north  of  Lake  Erie  from  near  the 
Detroit  River  eastward  until  their  lands  met  those  of  the  Iroquois 
near  the  Genesee  River. 

1  Jesuit  Relation,  published  1642,  page  49.     9  Page  382. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  11 

The  Neuters  derived  their  name  from  the  fact  that,  while  often  at 
war  with  other  tribes,  they  never  warred  with  either  the  Iroquois  or 
Hurons,  between  whom  they  were  located.  They  counted  36  villages 
west  of  the  Niagara  River  and  four  east  of  it,1  and  were  a  well-built  and 
populous  nation. 

Such  a  neutrality  could  not  last,  and  while  we  do  not  know  when 
the  Neuters  first  became  recognized  as  an  independent  nation  (cer- 
tainly before  1600,  for  in  1615  Champlain  refers  to  them  as  an  estab- 
lished tribe),  we  do  know  that  it  was  in  1651  that  the  Senecas,  the 
most  westerly,  the  strongest  numerically,  as  well  as  the  most  blood- 
thirsty of  the  Iroquois,  attacked  them  on  a  slight  pretext,  and  in  a 
short  and  bloody  campaign  wiped  them  out  of  existence  as  a  nation, 
the  remnant  that  was  spared  being  incorporated  among  their  captors. 

The  Senecas  thenceforth,  although  it  was  over  a  hundred  years 
before  they  occupied  the  Neuters'  territory,  claimed  title  to  it  by 
reason  of  this  conquest,  and  among  the  Indian  tribes  the  Senecas' 
claim  seems  to  have  been  fully  recognized. 

For,  as  we  shall  see  later  on,  the  Senecas  granted  LaSalle  im- 
portant rights  on  the  Niagara  River  in  1679. 

In  1719  they  gave  Joncaire,  a  Frenchman  who  had  been  adopted  into 
their  nation,  certain  rights  on  this  river,  which  were  of  direct  benefit  to 
the  French,  and  refused  equal  rights  to  the  English  ;  and,  in  1725,  they 
consented  to  the  French  building  a  stone  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

The  Senecas,  in  common  with  all  other  Indian  tribes,  seem  to  have 
regarded  their  land  deeds  and  their  treaties  as  binding  only  so  long 
as  it  suited  their  convenience.  Again,  some  of  their  deeds  embrace 
huge  tracts  of  land,  occupied  by  several  tribes,  the  sachems  or  chiefs 
of  which  all  joined  in  the  deed  of  the  whole  territory,  not  specifying 
what  portion  each  tribe  owned. 

Those  deeds  that  embrace  the  locality  we  are  treating  of,  of 
course,  bear  on  the  subject  in  hand. 

CONFLICTING   CLAIMS. 

Both  France  and  England  at  an  early  date  set  up  and  steadily 
claimed  title  among  other  territory  to  this  special  locality. 

France,  by  reason  generally   of   early  discoveries  and  occupation 
by  Champlain  (who  never  was  on  the  Niagara  River),  by  Coureurs  de 
Bois,  by  Jesuit  missionaries  and  later  by  La  Salle. 
1  Jesuit  relation,  published  1642,  pages  48  and  49. 


12  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

England  claiming  the  whole  continent  by  reason  of  its  discovery 
by  her  early  navigators,  (who  were  not  the  first  discoverers  of  the  con- 
tinent,) maintaining  a  claim  by  the  grant  from  James  I.  to  Gorges,  in 
1620,  of  the  land  from  ocean  to  ocean,  and  from  40  to  48  degrees  of 
latitude,  and  by  other,  though  conflicting  grants,  none  of  them  made 
good  by  occupation  or  actual  sovereignty,  and  by  her  conquest  of 
the  Dutch  at  Manhattan. 

Parkman,  writing  of  the  period  (1687)  when  French  and  English 
came  in  contact  in  the  Senecas'  territory,  and  set  up  their  rival  claims, 
says,  "  It  is  clear  that  the  claim  of  prior  discovery  and  occupation 
was  on  the  side  of  the  French."1 

Both  the  French  and  English  claimed  the  Iroquois  as  subjects, 
but  the  Senecas  especially  always  claimed  independence. 

DEEDS    FROM    THE    SENEGAS. 

In  1684,  the  five  nations  gave  England  a  protectorate  over  their 
lands,2  and  in  1686  the  English  governor  at  New  York  set  up  the 
Duke  of  York's  arms  in  all  the  castles  of  the  Five  Nations  "as  far  as 
Oneigra."  3  In  1687  the  Five  Nations  assented,  when  James  II.  of 
England  agreed  to  accept  them  as  his  subjects.4 

In  1701,  the  Senecas  and  other  tribes  deeded  to  William  III.,  King 
of  England,  in  trust  a  territory  800  miles  by  and  400  miles  broad, 
"including,  likewise,  the  Great  Falls  Oakinagaro." B  The  deed  is 
signed  by  the  totems  of  sachems  of  all  the  Five  Nations. 

In  1726,  the  Senecas  again  deeded  in  trust  to  the  English  king  a 
large  tract  of  territory,  including  "all  along  the  River  of  Oniagara."6 

But  all  these  deeds  seem  to  have  been  regarded  even  by  the  Eng- 
lish grantees  as  of  little  value,  and  it  was  not  till  1764,  as  noted  later 
on,  that  a  specific  deed  of  a  comparatively  small  area  of  country, 
being  that  along  both  banks  of  the  Niagara  River,  was  regarded  as 
perfect,  and  was  recognized  as  finally  transferring  to  the  English  the 
Indian  title  to  this  famous  region. 

While  Parkman,  as  above  quoted,  maybe  right  as  to  the  superior- 
ity of  the  French  claims,  by  reason  of  prior  discovery  and  occupation, 
if  there  was  any  right  of  title  to  this  land  in  the  Senecas,  (and  I 
believe  there  was,)  by  conquest,  the  English  certainly  seem  to  have 
acquired  at  an  early  date,  by  deeds  from  the  Indians,  what  they  after- 

1  Parkman,  Frontenac  and  New  France,  page  161.  2Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol  III  page 
508.  3Col.  Docs.  N.  Y  .  vol.  Ill,  page  396.  4Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  Ill,  page  503 
5  Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol  IV,  page  909.  6Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  V,  page  800. 


OLD   FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  13 

wards  acquired  by  arms  from  the  French,  namely,  the   title  to   the 
land  where  Fort  Niagara  now  stands. 

HISTORIC    PERIODS. 

Recognizing,  therefore,  the  title  to  the  spot  where  Fort  Niagara 
stands  as  vested  in  the  Senecas  after  their  conquest  of  the  Neuters  in 
1651,  we  may  divide  its  history  into  the  following  periods  : 

Indian  ownership,  1651-1669;  Indian  ownership,  French  influence 
predominating,  1669-1725  ;  Indian  ownership,  French  occupation, 
1725-1759;  Indian  ownership,  English  occupation,  1759-1764;  Eng- 
lish ownership  and  occupation,  1759-1783;  American  ownership. 
English  occupation,  the  "Hold-over  Period,"  1783-1796;  American 
ownership  and  occupation,  (excepting  December  19,  1813,  to  March 
27,  1815,)  1796-1896. 

Let  us  now  take  up  this  history  in  chronological  order. 

LA  SALLE'S  FIRST  VISIT. 

In  1669,  La  Salle,  in  company  with  Dollier  de  Casson  and  Rene  de 
Gallinee,  set  out  from  Quebec  for  the  Mississippi,  and  in  his  journal 
Gallinee  tells  of  their  passing  near  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River 
and  speaks  of  the  Falls  whose  roar  they  heard,1  this  being  the  earliest 
known  description  of  our  Cataract.  This  date  is  generally  accepted 
as  that  of  La  Salle's  first  visit  to  this  section. 

Opposed  to  this,  however,  is  the  official  statement  of  the  Marquis 
de  Nonville,  dated  July  31,  1687,  that  "La  Salle  had  erected  quarters 
at  Niagara  in  1668,  which  quarters  were  burnt  by  the  Senecas  12  years 
ago,"  2  that  is  in  1675. 

To  my  mind  De  Nonville,  writing  18  years  after  La  Salle's  visit, 
made  an  error  of  one  year,  and  should  have  written  1669.  We  know 
that  La  Salle  was  here  in  1669,  and  a  few  days  later  was  with  his  two 
companions  above  named  at  an  Indian  village  near  the  present  city 
of  Hamilton,  Canada,  and  here  he  met  Joliet,  who  was  on  his  way 
back  to  Quebec  from  Lake  Superior.3 

Separating  from  his  two  companions  at  this  village  September  30, 
1669,  we  next  hear  of  La  Salle  "continuing  his  way  on  a  river 
which  goes  from  east  to  west,  and  passes  to  Onondaga,  then  to  six  or 
seven  leagues  below  Lake  Erie,"  4  conceded  to  be  the  Ohio. 

1 0.  H.  Marshall's  writings,  page  219,  he  quotes  Gallinee's  Journal.  3  Doc  Hist. 
N.  Y.,  vol.  I,  pages  150-1.  3O.  H.  Marshall's  writings,  page  223.  *  J.  G.  Shea,  Bursting 
of  Margry's  Bubble,  page  16,  he  refers  to  Margry. 


14  OLD   FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

In  order  to  reach  the  Ohio  La  Salle  must  have  retraced  his  steps 
eastward,  and  thus  either  crossed  or  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Niag- 
ara River. 

He  had  several  men  with  him ;  he  may  have  tarried  on  the  Niagara; 
he  may  have  visited  the  Falls  ;  he  probably  built  the  quarters  of  which 
De  Nonville  tells.  If  he  did  build  them,  there  is  no  reason  why  the 
Senecas  should  not  have  burnt  them  as  stated. 

Certain  it  is  that  when  La  Salle  returned  to  this  locality  in 
January,  1679,  as  described  later  on,  he  knew  the  country  thoroughly; 
he  knew  just  where  to  land  ;  he  intended  to  build  a  fort  here  ;  he 
knew  about  the  Falls,  and  lie  came  with  the  intention,  and  fully 
prepared  to  build  a  vessel  above  them.  It  is,  therefore,  I  submit, 
possible,  and  even  probable,  that  in  this  unrecorded  interval  above 
referred  to  La  Salle  made  a  careful  study  of  the  surroundings 
here,  and  built  the  house  to  which  De  Nonville  refers. 

LA  SALLE'S  SECOND  VISIT. 

In  1678,  La  Salle  projected  an  expedition  to  the  far  West,  and 
on  November  i8th,  of  that  year,  La  Motte,  Hennepin  and  fourteen 
others  started  from  Fort  Frontenac  in  a  brigantine  of  10  tons  for 
Niagara,  and  on  the  6th  of  December  they  rounded  the  point  where 
Fort  Niagara  now  stands,  and  anchored  their  vessel  in  "the  beauti- 
ful River  Niagara,  which  no  bark  had  ever  yet  entered." ' 

On  this  point  of  land  was  a  fishing  village  of  the  Senecas,  white 
fish  then,  as  now,  being  abundant  in  the  river  at  this  spot.2  All  the 
land  was  covered  with  a  dense  thicket.  On  this  point  of  land,  on 
December  n,  1678,  Hennepin  said  the  first  mass  that  had  ever  been 
celebrated  in  this  territory.3  In  a  letter  written  by  him  to  the  Prince 
de  Conti,  dated  October  31,  1678,  just  before  Hennepin  and  his  com- 
rades sailed,  La  Salle  wrote  that  Tonti,  who  was  to  accompany  him. 
was  setting  out  to  build  a  new  fort  200  leagues  away,  near  Niagara 
Falls,  to  which  he  (La  Salle)  had  taken  the  liberty  to  give  the  name 
of  Fort  Conti.4 

The  vessel  and  crew  remained  at  this  spot  from  the  6th  to  the  I5th 
of  December,  and  the  carpenters  were  at  work.5 

"  It  is  at  the  mouth  of  Lake  Frontenac  (Ontario)  that  a  fort  was 
begun,"  wrote  Hennepin,6  "but  the  Iroquois  took  umbrage,  so  that,  as 

1  Hennepin,  Louisiana,  1683,  page  23.  -  Hennepin.  Louisiana,  1683,  page  32.  3  Henne- 
oin,  Louisiana.  1683,  page  24.  4  Parkman.  Discovery  of  the  Great  West,  page  118. 
5  Hennepin,  New  Discovery,  1698,  page  50.  6  Hennepin,  Louisiana,  1683,  page  30. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  15 

we  were  not  in  a  position  to  resist  them,  we  contented  themselves 
with  building  there  a  house  defended  by  palisades,  which  is  called 
Fort  Conti,  and  the  place  is  naturally  defensive,  and  beside  it  there  is 
a  very  fine  harbor  for  barks  to  retire  to  in  security."  l  In  a  later  work 
he  adds  that  it  was  built  on  the  east  side  of  the  Niagara  River  at  its 
mouth.2  Prevented  from  erecting  a  regular  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the 
River,  La  Motte,  acting  probably  under  explicit  instructions  from  La 
Salle,  took  his  vessel  and  crew  up  the  river,  to  where  Lewiston  now 
stands,  where  he  wanted  to  erect  a  store-house.  His  orders  evidently 
were  to  try  and  build  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  river ;  failing  in  that  — 
as  he  had  —  to  build  a  store-house  at  the  foot  of  the  portage,  which 
would  aid  him  in  the  fur  trade,  which  the  Indians  might  permit,  and 
which  would  give  a  foothold,  and  could  be  used  as  trading-post,  and 
gradually  fortified,  till  such  time  as  a  real  fort  could  be  built  and  main- 
tained at  the  river's  mouth.  If  these  were  La  Salle's  plans,  and  I 
believe  they  were,  he  only  anticipated  history  by  some  fifty  years,  for, 
as  will  be  seen  later,  it  was  by  this  very  plan  and  on  this  very  spot 
that  the  French  ultimately  built  a  fortified  store-house  of  some  pre- 
tentions,  which  served  all  their  purposes,  military  and  commercial, 
till  they  obtained  permission  to  build  a  stone  fort  on  the  coveted  point 
of  land. 

On  the  site  of  Lewiston  La  Motte's  men  built  their  cabin,  fortified 
with  palisades,3  using  hot  water  to  thaw  the  frozen  ground.  Here 
La  Salle  soon  joined  them.  He  had  left  Fort  Frontenac  some  time 
after  La  Motte's  departure,  for  the  site  of  his  projected  Fort  Conti  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River,  but,  narrowly  escaping  shipwreck, 
landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Genesee  River.  He  visited  the  chief 
Seneca  village,  met  the  chiefs,  and  obtained  from  them  their  consent, 
(which,  but  a  few  days  before,  they  had  refused  to  La  Motte  and  Henne- 
pin,)  to  the  building  of  a  vessel  above  the  cataract  and  the  estab- 
lishing of  a  fortified  warehouse  at  the  mouth  of  the  river." 

His  first  work  was  the  building  of  his  vessel  above  the  Falls,  and 
after  having  located  the  place  of  building,  and  having  seen  the  keel 
laid,  he  led  a  sergeant  and  a  number  of  men  to  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  in  order  at  once  to  take  advantage  of  the  Senecas'  consent  to 

1  Hennepin,  Louisiana,  1683,  page  31.     2  Hennepin,  Nouville  Decouverte,  1697,  page  48. 

3  Parkman.  La  Salle  and  Discovery  of  Great  West,  page   126,   he   quotes  Tonty,  Relation, 
1684,    Margry,     vol.    I,    page    573      Tonti,    La  Salle's   Last  Discoveries,   1698,  page   20. 

4  Parkman,    La  Salle  and    Discovery   of  the   Great   West,  page   128,   be   quotes   Letter   de 
La  Salle,  Margry,  vol.  II,  page  32. 


1 6  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

his  building  a  fortified  warehouse  there  —  a  project  specially  dear  to 
his  heart. 

Here  on  the  famous  point  of  land,  in  February,  1679,  La  Salle 
marked  out  the  foundations  of  two  block-houses,1  set  his  men  to  work, 
and  started  on  foot  for  Fort  Frontenac. 

In  accordance  with  his  promise  to  that  Prince,  he  called  these  block- 
houses Fort  Conti.  They  seemed  to  have  been  finished  and  occu- 
pied, but  after  a  few  months  —  probably  about  July, —  through  the 
carelessness  of  the  sergeant  in  command,  were  destroyed  by  fire.2 

Let  us  note  the  date,  December,  1678,  when  La  Motte  commenced 
a  fort  and  January,  1679,  when  La  Salle  himself  started  the  work 
on  his  block-houses  on  this  historic  spot. 

When  La  Salle  arrived  again  at  Niagara,  in  August,  1679,  his  fort 
was  in  ashes;  his  creditors  and  his  enemies  had  well  nigh  ruined 
him.  His  vessel,  the  Griffin,  however,  was  ready  to  sail  west- 
ward. In  the  money  he  hoped  to  get  through  trading  for  furs  on 
her  voyage,  lay  his  only  immediate  hope  of  financial  aid.  He  aban- 
doned everything  else  in  order  not  to  delay  this  enterprise.  Under 
such  circumstances  even  his  much-cherished  plan  of  a  fort  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Niagara  River  was  forgotten,  for  he  had  neither  the 
heart  nor  the  means  to  rebuild  the  burnt  block-houses. 

For  the  next  few  years,  Niagara,  meaning  both  the  point  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  and  the  store-house  at  Lewiston,  the  two  being 
closely  connected  in  the  plans  of  the  French  for  their  ownership, 
often  appears  in  the  official  correspondence  of  both  France  and  Eng- 
land, the  former  being  much  the  more  closely  identified  with  the 
locality. 

DE  NONVILLE'S  FORT. 

In  1685  the  Marquis  de  Nonville  became  governor  of  New  France. 
In  an  official  letter  from  Quebec,  dated  May  6,  1686,  urging  the  hum- 
bling of  the  Iroquois,  he  says :  "  What  I  should  consider  most  effect- 
ual to  accomplish  this  would  be  the  establishment  of  a  right  good 
post  at  Niagara. 

"The  manner  in  which  the  English  have  managed  with  the  Iro- 
quois hitherto,  when  desirous  to  establish  themselves  in  their  neigh- 
borhood, has  been  to  make  them  presents  for  the  purchase  of  the  soil 

1  Parkman,  La  Salle  and  Discovery  of  the  Great  West,  page  135,  he  quotes  Letter  of  La 
Salle,  Margry,  vol.  II,  page  229,  and  Relation  de  Tonty,  1684.  Margry,  vol.  I,  page  577. 
\Vinsor  Nar.  and  Crit.  History  of  Am.,  vol.  IV,  page  223.  -  Parkman,  LaSalle  and  Dis- 
covery of  the  Great  West,  page  135.  Note. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  17 

and  the  property  of  the  land  they  wish  to  occupy.  What  I  see  most 
certain  is,  whether  we  act  so  by  them,  or  have  peace  or  war  with 
them,  they  will  submit  with  considerable  impatience  to  see  a  fort  at 
Niagara."1 

He  wanted  a  "  fort  sufficiently  large  to  contain  a  force  of  four  or 
five  hundred  men  to  make  war  on  them  ;  enclosed  by  a  simple  ordi- 
nary picket  fence  to  place  it  beyond  all  insult,"2  but  to  this  suggestion 
he  received  from  France  no  favorable  reply. 

Early  in  1686  Dongan,  the  English  Governor  at  New  York,  had 
also  suggested  to  his  government  the  erection  of  an  English  fort  at 
the  spot.3 

During  the  winter  of  1686-7  De  Nonville  made  his  preparations 
to  attack  the  Senecas,  partly  to  punish  them  for  having  burnt  La 
Salle's  house  at  Niagara  in  1675,*  and  generally  because  of  their 
unceasing  hostility  to  all  French  plans.  He  sent  word  to  the  western 
Indian  allies  of  France  and  the  French  troops  in  the  West  to  meet 
him  at  Niagara  in  July,  1687. 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  our  title  to  treat  of  that  part  of  this 
expedition  that  chastised  the  Senecas  in  the  Genesee  Valley.  After 
that  he  assembled  his  French  forces  and  Indian  allies  at  Irondequot 
Bay,  and  on  July  24,  1687,  he  embarked  for  Niagara,  reaching  there 
on  July  3Oth  ;  and  he  at  once  set  his  troops  to  work  to  build  that  fort 
which  he  had  so  strongly  advocated.  The  fact  that  France  and  Eng- 
land were  at  peace,  and  that  England  claimed  the  Senecas  under  her 
protection,  counted  for  nothing  with  De  Nonville. 

He  selected  for  the  location  of  the  fort  "the  angle  of  the  lake  on 
the  Seneca  side  of  the  river;  it  is  the  most  beautiful,  the  most  pleas- 
ing and  the  most  advantageous  site  that  is  on  the  whole  of  this 
lake."  B 

He  also  states  in  an  official  letter,  "The  post  I  have  fortified  at 
Niagara  is  not  a  novelty,  since  Sieur  de  La  Salle  had  a  house  there 
which  is  in  ruins  since  a  year."6  So  De  Nonville's  fort  must  have  been 
on  the  site  of  La  Salle's  block-houses,  and  it  was  the  first  real  defen- 
sive work  erected  here. 

Baron  La  Hontan  was  among  the  officers  of  De  Nonville's  com- 
mand, and  he  describes  the  work  as  "  a  fort  of  pales,  with  four  bas- 
tions," and  says  it  "  stands  on  the  south  side  of  the  Streights  of  Herrie 

1  Doc.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  vol.  I  ,  p.  127.  8  Doc.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  vol.  I.,  page  127.  3Col. 
Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol  HI  ,  page  394-  4  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.  Y.,  vol.  I.,  page  150.  5  Doc.  Hist, 
of  N.  Y  .  vol.  I.,  page  147.  6  Col  Docs,  of  N.  Y.,  vol.  IX.,  page  349. 


18  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

Lake,  upon  a  hill,  at  the  foot  of  which  that  lake  falls  into  the  Lake 
of  Frontenac."1 

De  Nonville,  in  his  report,  says:  "The  inconvenience  of  this  post 
is  that  timber  is  at  a  distance  from  it."a  So  the  pales  had  to  be  cut 
some  ways  off,  floated  to  the  point  and  drawn  up  the  steep  banks,  all 
involving  much  labor,  and  as  it  took  but  three  days  to  complete  the 
entire  fort  it  must  have  been  a  rather  weak  affair.3 

On  July  31,  1687,  De  Nonville,  in  presence  of  his  army,  took  for- 
mal possession  of  the  fort  in  the  name  of  the  French  king,  and  issued 
a  proclamation,  signed  by  himself  and  officers,  to  that  effect.4 

This  fort  was  called  after  its  builder,  Fort  De  Nonville,  but  the 
earlier  name,  Niagara,  clung  to  it.  "  De  Nonville  "  had  no  designa- 
tion of  locality  attached  to  it,  "Niagara"  had,  and  Fort  Niagara  it 
has  been  ever  since.  De  Nonville  started  for  Quebec  on  the  com- 
pletion of  the  fort,  leaving  a  garrison  of  100  men,  under  command  of 
De  Troyes,  with  an  eight  months'  supply  of  provisions. 

Misfortune  brooded  over  the  fort  from  its  completion.  No 
sooner  had  the  main  body  of  the  French  departed,  and  their  Indian 
allies  scattered,  than  the  Senecas,  more  angered  than  crippled  by 
De  Nonville's  crusade  against  them  in  the  Genesee  Valley,  appeared 
before  the  fort  in  large  numbers  and  vented  their  rage  on  the 
unhappy  garrison.  Eight  hundred  of  them  laid  siege  to  the  place 
and  no  Frenchman  "  dared  venture  out  for  hunting,  fishing  or  fire- 
wood." B 

Besides  the  misery  of  being  thus  cooped  up  in  a  small  fort,  and 
always  on  the  alert  for  assaults,  scurvy  set  in  among  the  French. 
The  provisions,  though  plentiful,  were  of  a  bad  quality;  many  of  the 
men  died.  "  The  fort  was  first  a  prison,  then  a  hospital,  then 
a  charnel  house,"6  till  by  spring  but  12  men  out  of  the  100  sur- 
vived. 

No  sooner  did  Dongan,  the  English  Governor  at  New  York, 
hear  that  De  Nonville  had  built  a  fort  at  Niagara  than  he  entered 
a  most  vigorous  protest  against  such  a  step,  and  demanded  its 
destruction.7  A  long  and  spirited  correspondence  between  these  two 
representatives  of  France  and  England  followed,  in  which  the 
claims  of  priority  of  discovery,  the  ownership  of  this  particular 

1  La  Hontan,  English  ed.,  1703,  vol.  I.,  page  78.  2  Doc.  Hist.  N.Y.,  vol.  I.  page  148 
3  Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  IX.,  page  368.  4  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.  Y.,  vol.  I.,  page  149. 
5  Parkman,  Frontenac,  page  166,  he  quotes  De  Nonville  Memoire,  loth  August,  1686. 
*  Parkman,  Fontenac,  page  166.  7  Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  III.,  page  516. 


OLD  FOR  T  NIA  GA  RA  IN  HIS  TOR  Y.         1 9 

territory,  and  the  allegiance  of  the  Iroquois,  particularly  the  Senecas, 
were  set  up  by  both  sides  and  the  claims  of  each  ridiculed  by 
the  other. 

De  Nonville's  recent  attack  on  the  Senecas  made  it  easy  for 
Dongan  to  obtain  their  adherence  to  his  views.  De  Nonville  was 
extremely  anxious  for  peace  with  the  Iroquois  just  now,  at  almost 
any  price.  Dongan  shrewdly  referred  some  of  the  points  in  dispute 
to  a  meeting  of  the  Iroquois  chieftains,1  and  these  warriors  declared 
they  would  make  no  peace,  nor  even  a  truce,  until  certain  conditions, 
one  of  the  most  prominent  of  these  being  the  destruction  of  all  the 
French  forts  on  the  lakes,  were  complied  with.2 

In  November,  1687,  James  II.  of  England  consented  to  take  the 
Iroquois,  or  Five  Nations,  as  his  subjects,3  and  conferences  were 
opened  at  London  to  adjust  the  many  differences  between  France 
and  England. 

While  their  masters  were  negotiating,  Dongan  was  materially 
strengthening  his  position  and  his  relations  with  the  Iroquois,  until 
De  Nonville,  fearful  of  losing  both  Fort  Frontenac  and  Fort  Niagara, 
decided  to  abandon  Niagara,  as  demanded  by  the  English  and  Iro- 
quois, and  so  expressed  his  intention  to  Dongan,  as  his  letter  says, 
"  in  order  to  contribute  to  a  permanent  peace."  4 

The  garrison  of  100  men,  left  by  De  Nonville  at  Fort  Niagara, 
July  31,  1687,  had  been  reduced  to  about  a  dozen  by  the  end  of  April, 
1688,  when  a  large  party  of  Miamis,  allies  of  the  French,  arrived,  en- 
tered the  fort,  and  defended  it  and  the  little  garrison  till  a  company 
of  French  soldiers  came  to  its  relief.6 

On  July  6,  1688,  De  Nonville  issued  the  promised  order  for  the 
abandonment  of  Fort  Niagara.6  What  a  pang  it  must  have  cost  him ! 
He  sacrificed  Niagara  in  the  expectation  of  saving  Frontenac.  As  it 
turned  out  he  lost  that  also  soon  afterwards. 

On  September  15,  1688,  Desbergeres,  who  on  De  Troyes'  death 
had  succeeded  him  as  commandant  of  Niagara,  assembled  his 
men  in  the  fort,  read  De  Nonville's  order  to  them,  and  gave 
directions  for  obeying  it.  The  palisades  were  torn  down,  but  the 
cabins  and  quarters  were  left  standing,  according  to  the  order.  "A 
written  memorandum  of  the  condition  in  which  we  leave  said 
quarters,  which  will  remain  entire  to  maintain  the  possession  His 

'Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  III.,  page  533.  *  Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  III.,  534.  3  Col. 
Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  III.,  page  503.  4  Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  III.,  page  556.  5  Parkman, 
Frontenac,  page  166.  6  Doc.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  vol.  I.,  page  168. 


20 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 


Majesty  and  the  French  have  for  a  long  time  had  in  this  Niagara  dis- 
trict "  was  prepared. 

In  this  memorandum  it  appears  there  was,  first,  in  the  centre  of 
the  square  a  large  wooden  cross,  eighteen  feet  in  height,  erected  on 
Good  Friday,  1688,  solemnly  blessed  by  Rev.  Father  Millet,  on  the 
arms  of  which  in  large  letters  were  inscribed  : 

REGN.  VINC.    (^)    IMP.  CHRS. 
(Regnat,  Vincit,   Imperat  Christus — Christ  reigneth,  conquereth,  ruleth.) 


Among  the  buildings  mentioned  was  a  cabin  for  the  commander, 
with  a  good  chimney,  a  door  and  windows  with  fastenings. 

Another  with  two  rooms,  a  chimney,  and  window  in  each,  etc. 

Father  Millet's  cabin,  with  chimney,  windows  and  sash. 

A  cabin  opposite  the  Cross,  with  a  board  ceiling. 

Still  another  cabin,  a  bake-house  and  an  apartment  at  the  end 
thereof. 

A  large  and  extensive  frame  building,  with  a  double  door,  three 
windows,  no  chimney,  floored  with  planks,  and  clapboarded  outside. 
No  doubt,  the  chapel. 

A  large  store  house,  and  a  well  with  a  cover. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  21 

This  interesting  document  will  be  found  in  full  in  Documentary 
History  of  New  York,  volume  I.,  page  168,  and  in  Colonial  Documents 
of  New  York,  volume  IX.,  page  387. 

A  waiting  vessel  conveyed  the  garrison  to  Fort  Frontenac. 

So  ends  one  chapter  —  De  Nonville  had  succeeded  in  fortifying 
Niagara,  as  France  desired  ;  but  Indian  cunning  and  ferocity,  stirred 
on  by  English  intrigue,  and  backed  by  England's  demand,  had  com- 
pelled its  demolition  as  England  wanted. 

1688  —  1719. 

De  Nonville  was  soon  after  recalled,  and  French  policy  hereafter 
was  more  of  a  cultivation  of  good  will  towards  the  Senecas  especially, 
and  the  Iroquois  generally.  Always  at  variance  with  the  five  nations, 
because  of  the  latter's  leaning  toward  the  English,  henceforth,  in  time 
of  peace,  France  cajoled  them,  and  in  time  of  war  awed  them  by 
attack. 

As  for  the  English,  they  did  not  cultivate  the  Indians'  friendship, 
henceforth,  as  successfully  as  did  the  French. 

The  regaining  of  Niagara  was  one  of  the  main  reasons  for  France's 
more  conciliatory  attitude  towards  the  Iroquois,  from  this  time  on  ; 
and  while  over  30  years  elapsed  before  she  again  had  a  fort  there,  its 
possession  to  her  was  worth  the  delay. 

It  was  of  more  importance  to  her  each  year.  Her  fur  trade  was 
being  directed  to  New  York,  and  her  possession  of  Niagara  would 
largely  restore  it  to  Quebec.  Niagara  was  the  key  to  the  control  of 
the  four  upper  lakes,  as  well  as  to  the  Valley  of  the  Ohio,  and  it  was 
the  most  important  link  in  that  great  chain  of  fortifications  she  was 
building  to  connect  her  Canadian  domain  with  that  great  western 
territory,  which  she  claimed,  and  which  was  called  Louisiana. 

During  the  next  thirty  years,  the  attention  of  both  France  and 
England  was  constantly  turned  to  Niagara.  Several  proposals  were 
made  by  the  respective  Governors  at  Quebec  and  New  York  to  their 
Governments  for  the  erection  of  a  fort  at  Niagara,  some  of  these 
proposals  being  made  when  the  two  countries  were  at  war,  and  some 
while  they  were  at  peace. 

The  peace  of  Ryswick,  1697,  found  France  in  possession  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  Mississippi  valleys,  but  still  without  the  fort  at  Niag- 
ara. But  France  was  losing  no  chance  to  strengthen  her  position 
with  the  Iroquois,  who  were  still  friends  of  England,  and,  as  France 


22  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

ratified  a  treaty  with  them  in  1701,  when  England  declared  war  in 
1702,  the  neutrality  of  the  Iroquois  was  secured  and  the  war  con- 
fined to  New  England. 

A  French  plan  to  seize  Niagara  was  submitted  to  the  Court  in 
1706,  but  the  alternative  and  elaborate  suggestion  of  "  having  recourse 
to  peace  and  mildness  "  seems  to  have  better  met  the  royal  view.1 

Article  15  of  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  1713,  declared  the  five  nations 
"subject  to  the  dominion  of  Great  Britain  ;  "  but  as  this,  literally  con- 
strued, would  have  been  an  acknowledgment  that  the  land  on  the 
Niagara  was  under  England's  rule,  the  French  diplomats  claimed  a 
decided  distinction  between  the  "  five  nations  being  subject  to,  and 
their  lands  being  subject  to  England."  Indeed,  it  was  contended 
that  Niagara  was  in  the  Province  of  New  York  under  this  treaty 
clause,2  and  a  protest  was  made  by  Clinton  against  the  French  trying 
to  occupy  it. 

In  1716  another  recommendation  for  a  fort  at  Niagara  was  sent 
from  Quebec  to  France.3 

It  was  through  the  influence  of  Chabert  Joncaire,  a  Frenchman, 
that  France  was  soon  to  obtain  on  the  Niagara  at  Lewiston,  a  foot- 
hold which  was  merely  a  stepping-stone  to  the  fort  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river.  This  lad,  taken  a  prisoner  by  the  Senecas,  his  life 
spared,  adopted  into  the  tribe,  and  marrying  a  Seneca  squaw,  ob- 
tained great  influence  with  the  warriors.  In  1700  he  entered  the 
French  service,  and  continued  therein  till  his  death,  forty  years 
after,  and  this  does  not  seem  to  have  lessened  the  fondness  of  the 
Iroquois  for  him;  for,  in  1706,  in  the  "proposal  to  take  possession 
of  Niagara,"  it  is  stated  "  the  Iroquois  actually  suggest  to  him  to 
establish  himself  among  them,  granting  him  liberty  to  select  on 
their  territory  the  place  most  acceptable  to  himself  for  the  pur- 
pose of  living  there  in  peace,  and  even  to  remove  their  villages  to 
the  neighborhood  of  his  residence,  in  order  to  protect  him."4 

In  1718  orders  came  from  France  to  extend  the  French  trade 
and  to  erect  magazines  therefor. 

JONCAIRE'S  CABIN  AT  LEWISTON. 

In  the  fall  of  1719  the  French  were  on  very  friendly  terms  with 
the  Senecas,  and  the  time  had  come  to  test  Joncaire's  popularity 

ICol.  Doc.  of  N.  Y.,  vol.  IX.,  page  773.  9Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  IX.,  page  1061. 
3Col.  Doc.  of  N.  Y.,  vol.  IX.,  page  874  *  Col.  Doc.  N.  Y.,  vol.  IX  ,  page  773. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  23 

with  them,  and  he  was  sent  to  "try  the  minds  of  the  Senecas,  to 
see  if  they  would  consent  to  the  (French  )  building  a  house  on  their 
land,  and  to  maintain  that  settlement  in  case  the  English  would 
oppose  it."  ' 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  he  was  instructed  in  case  the 
Senecas  refused  this  French  request,  to  take  up  their  old  offer  to 
him  of  a  location  of  a  cabin  for  himself,  and  to  locate  it  near 
the  foot  of  the  portage.  In  any  event,  his  influence  and  his  pres- 
ents obtained  the  desired  consent,  and  early  in  1720  he  erected  a  bark 
cabin  at  Lewiston,  on  the  river,  hoisted  a  flag  over  it  and  called  it 
"  Magazine  Royal."  * 

The  English  at  first  used  every  means  to  have  it  destroyed,  ap- 
pealing to  the  Senecas;  but  Joncaire's  influence  prevailed  against 
that  of  Peter  Schuyler  and  Philip  Livingston,  and  it  remained. 

Joncaire  seems  promptly  to  have  enlarged  it,  for  it  is  referred 
to  as  a  block-house,  forty  feet  long  and  thirty  feet  wide,  enclosed 
with  palisades,  "  musket  proof,  with  portholes  for  firing  with  small 
arms,"  in  November,  1720, 3  and  Joncaire  was  its  commandant. 

Failing  to  have  this  house  demolished,  the  English  demanded 
permission  to  have  a  similar  house  at  the  same  place,  and  this,  too, 
the  Senecas  refused. 4 

Thus  France  again  secured  an  entering  wedge  to  the  erection  of 
a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  These  locations  of  Lewiston  and 
Fort  Niagara,  both  referred  to  in  the  correspondence  of  these  early 
days  as  "  Niagara,"  must  not  be  confounded.  Lewiston  was  at  the 
exact  foot  of  the  portage,  and  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  river, 
so  the  excuse  of  "  a  store-house  "  could  be  made  for  erecting  a  de- 
fensive work  there,  that  could  not  be  made  concerning  such  a  build- 
ing where  Fort  Niagara  now  stands,  seven  miles  away. 

Charlevoix,  in  1721,  visited  Joncaire's  house,  which  he  calls  "a 
cabin  to  which  they  have  already  given  the  name  of  a  fort,  for  they 
say  with  reason  that  in  time  it  will  become  a  veritable  fortress."5 
Charlevoix's  work  was  not  published  till  1744,  and  in  a  note  on  the 
same  page  he  adds:  "  The  fort  has  since  been  built  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Niagara  River,  on  the  same  side  and  at  the  exact  spot  where  M. 
de  Nonville  had  built  one." 

'Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  V.,  page  588.  2  Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  V.,  page  588.  3Col. 
Doc.  N.  Y.,  vol.  V.,  page  577.  4  Charlevoix  Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle  France,  1744,  vol. 
III.,  page  227.  5  Charlevoix,  Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle  France,  vol.  III.,  page  225. 


24  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

A  later  traveler,  at  the  time  a  guest  of  Gov.  Simcoe,  at  Niagara, 
says  of  the  fort :  "  It  was  originally  constructed  by  Mr.  de  la  Ton- 
quiere  (Joncaire),  three  miles  nearer  the  Falls,  but  was  some  years 
afterwards  transferred  to  the  spot  where  it  now  stands  and  where 
Mr.  de  Nonville  threw  up  an  entrenchment."  l 

La  Salle's  palisaded  store-house  at  Lewiston,  built  1679,  had  no 
doubt  disappeared  when  Joncaire's  cabin  was  erected. 

This  fortified  trading  post  of  Joncaire's  was  a  most  important 
center  for  the  next  five  years.  It  was  the  headquarters  of  French 
influence  in  this  section.  A  few  soldiers  were  maintained  there  under 
the  name  of  "  traders,"  the  trade  in  furs  was  brisk,  the  Indians  from 
the  north,  west  and  south  coming  there  to  barter.  The  chain  of  friend- 
ship with  the  Senecas  was  kept  bright  by  friendly  intercourse  with 
their  warriors,  who  constantly  came  there,  French  trading  vessels 
often  anchored  at  its  rude  wharf,  bringing  merchandise  from  Fronte- 
nac  and  returning  laden  with  furs. 

Thus  the  English  for  the  first  time  failed  to  overcome  the  French 
influence  with  the  Senecas  and  could  not  succeed  in  ousting  them 
from  their  foothold  on  the  Niagara. 

In  1721,  Gen.  Hunter  again  recommended  the  erection  of  an 
English  fort  at  Niagara*,  supplementing  the  same  suggestions  made 
in  1720  by  the  authorities  of  Albany  and  Governor  Burnet.3 

STONE   FORT   AT   THE   MOUTH   OF   THE    RIVER. 

Thus  matters  progressed  in  the  interest  of  the  French  till  1725, 
when  the  Marquis  De  Vaudreuil  gave  notice  that  he  proposed  to 
build  a  stone  house  at  Niagara4,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  Longueil 
met  the  deputies  of  the  five  several  Iroquois  Nations  at  Onontague, 
and  got  them  to  consent  to  the  erection  of  a  stone  house  at  Niagara, 
the  plan  of  which  he  designed,  and  which  was  to  cost  29,295  livres,5 
equal  to  $5,592.  Acting  on  this  consent,  he  at  once  sent  100  men  to 
hurry  on  the  work.' 

The  Senecas  made  no  serious  opposition  to  the  work,  though  it 
is  probable  it  required  all  Joncaire's  influence  to  induce  them  to 
reject  the  demands  which  the  four  other  tribes  of  the  five  nations, 
appealed  to  and  instigated  by  the  English  at  New  York,  made,  first 

1  Rochefoucault's  Travels,  1799,  vol.  I  ,  page  257.  *  Col.  Doc.  N.  Y..  vol.  V.,  page  561 
3  Col.  Doc.  N.  Y.,  vol.  V.,  page  572  and  579-  4  Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  IX.,  page  952 
5  Col.  Doc.  N.  Y.,  vol.  IX.,  page  953  and  958.  •  Col.  Doc.  N.  Y..  vol.  IX..  page  958. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  25 

for  the  stoppage  and  later  for  the  destruction  of  the  structure, 
although  they  had  previously  given  them  consent,  under  French 
influence,  to  its  erection. 

This  consent  of  the  Iroquois  (Senecas)  to  the  French  erecting  a 
house  at  Niagara  was  ratified  July  14,  1726,  at  a  council  held  at 
Niagara.1 

This  house,  commonly  called  the  "Mess  House"  or  "Castle," 
begun  in  1725,  was  not  fully  completed  till  along  in  1726." 

Samuel  DeVeaux,  a  resident  of  Niagara  Falls,  wrote  in  1839: 

"  It  is  a  traditionary  story  that  the  Mess  House,  which  is  a  very 
strong  building  and  the  largest  in  the  fort,  was  erected  by  stratagem. 
A  considerable,  though  not  powerful,  body  of  French  troops  had 
arrived  at  the  point.  Their  force  was  inferior  to  the  surrounding 
Indians,  of  whom  they  were  under  some  apprehensions.  They  ob- 
tained consent  of  the  Indians  to  build  a  wigwam,  and  induced  them, 
with  some  of  their  officers,  to  engage  in  an  extensive  hunt.  The 
materials  had  been  made  ready  and  while  the  Indians  were  absent  the 
French  built.  When  the  parties  returned  at  night  they  had  advanced 
so  far  with  the  work  as  to  cover  their  faces  and  to  defend  themselves 
against  the  savages  in  case  of  an  attack."3 

Report  says  that  the  stone  was  brought  from  Frontenac.  DeWitt 
Clinton  wrote  in  1810 :  "  Considering  the  distance  and  the  monstrous 
mass  of  stone  one  would  think  this  impossible.  As  the  stones  about 
the  windows  are  different  and  more  handsome  than  those  which  com- 
pose the  building,  the  probability  is  that  the  former  only  were  brought 
from  Fort  Frontenac  and  that  the  latter  are  the  common  stone  of  the 
country."4  He  gave  the  dimensions  of  the  house  as  105  x  47  feet. 

Whether  openly  or  by  a  ruse  the  French  built  the  first  story  of  the 
Mess  House,  the  largest  and  strongest  of  the  buildings  ever  built  on 
the  point  of  land  up  to  this  time,  and  the  Indians,  who  had  promised 
that  the  French  should  not  be  molested  while  they  were  occupied  in 
the  work  of  building  the  house  they  had  obtained  permission  for, 
seem  to  have  kept  their  word.  Thus  we  come  to  the  first  permanent 
fort  at  this  spot,  and  a  fort  has  been  maintained  here  continuously 
ever  since. 

Joncaire's  block-house  at  Lewiston  seems  to  have  been  allowed  to 
fall  into  decay.  Early  in  1727  Louis  XV.,  King  of  France,  approved 

'Col.  Doc.  N.  Y.,  vol.  V.,  page  803.     *  Doc.   Hist,  of  N.  Y.,  vol.  I.,  page  291.     3  The 
Falls  of  Niagara,  1839,  page  119.     4  Life  of  DeWitt  Clinton,  1849,  page  124. 


OLD   FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  27 

plans  for  having  it  rebuilt  that  fall,  at  the  same  time  approving  of  the 
location  of  the  house  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  because  it  would 
prevent  the  English  from  trading  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Ontario 
and  seizing  the  Niagara  River,  which  was  the  passage  to  the  upper 
countries.1  Still,  as  it  did  not  command  the  portage,  he  was  willing 
to  expend  20,430  livres  to  repair  the  house  that  did.2 

No  doubt  his  wiser  counselors  advised  differently,  for  the  order 
was  revoked3  and  Joncaire's  block  house  was  abandoned  in  1728. 

That  building  had  done  good  service ;  it  had  given  the  French  the 
desired  foothold  on  the  Niagara  River;  it  had  held  and  fostered  the 
trade  in  furs ;  it  had  established  French  supremacy  in  this  region,  and 
furnished  them  with  the  key  to  the  possession  of  the  Upper  Lakes 
and  the  Ohio  Valley ;  and  last,  and  most  important  of  all,  it  had  been 
the  means  of  France  obtaining  a  real  fortress  at  the  point  where  her 
diplomats  and  armies  had  been  waiting  to  erect  one  for  over  half  a 
century.  It  had  served  its  purposes,  a  fort  had  been  built  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  its  usefulness  was  ended  and  it  was  abandoned 
for  ever. 

1725-1744. 

This  new  French  fort,  Fort  Niagara,  from  this  time  on  was  grad- 
ually improved  and  strengthened,  from  time  to  time.  Some  works  of 
defense  must  have  been  constructed  at  once,  for,  in  September,  1736, 
an  official  report  says :  "  Niagara  is  well  fortified.  It  had  only  six 
guns,  but  Choueguen  (Oswego)  has  furnished  24  of  the  largest  calibre, 
which  are  now  mounted.  People  are  busy  supplying  Forts  Duquesne, 
Niagara  and  Frontenac  with  provisions."  4 

Still,  even  the  possession  of  the  long  coveted  fort  did  not  give  the 
French  that  absolute  control  of  the  fur  trade  that  they  had  expected. 
From  1727  to  1736  England  obtained  by  far  the  larger  portion  of  the 
Indian  traffic  by  means  of  a  liberal  sale  and  distribution  of  brandy, 
the  "fire  water"  of  the  Indians,  at  the  trading  post  she  had  built  at 
Oswego  in  1722.  The  French  authorities,  relying  on  their  advantages 
of  location  had  made  decided  efforts  to  discontinue  this  liquor  traffic, 
largely,  no  doubt,  through  the  influence  of  the  priests  and  mission- 
aries of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  at  Niagara  the  supply  of  brandy 
furnished  was  very  limited. 

1  Col.  Docs.  N  Y.t  vol.  IX.,  page  964.  2  Col.  Docs.  N.  Y..  vol.  IX.,  page  965.  3Col. 
Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  IX.,  page  1003.  4Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  X.,  page  481. 


28  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

In  October,  1736,  an  official  report  by  Beauharnois  and  Hocquart  to 
France,  says  :  "  As  for  the  commerce  now  carried  on  at  Fort  Frontenac 
and  Niagara  it  becomes  every  year  more  inconsiderable  in  comparison 
to  the  expenses  the  king  incurs  there.  These  two  posts,  which  pro- 
duced some  years  ago  as  much  as  52,000  Ibs.  of  peltries,  have  these 
four  years  past  returned  only  25,000  to  35,000  Ibs.  This  falling  off 
has  occurred  merely  since  the  discontinuance  of  the  distribution  of 
brandy  to  the  Indians,  whereof  it  is  the  king's  pleasure  that  Messrs, 
de  Beauharnois  and  Hocquart  be  very  sparing.  .  .  .  We  admit 
that  it  is  difficult,  and  perhaps  impossible,  to  sell  brandy  to  the 
major  portion  of  the  Indians  without  their  getting  drunk.  But  it 
is  equally  certain  that  nothing  deters  them  from  trading  with  the 
French  in  these  posts,  and  anywhere  else  in  the  upper  countries, 
more  than  the  refusal  to  sell  them  any  of  this  liquor  for  which  they 
entertain  an  inexpressible  fondness.  They  find  plenty  of  it  at 
Choueguen  (Oswego),  where  they  repair  from 'all  the  posts  of  the 
upper  countries  without  any  means  of  stopping  them  at  Niagara. 
Sieurs  de  Beauharnois  and  Hocquart  perceive,  unfortunately,  no 
means  of  destroying  or  interrupting  the  commercial  relation  this 
drink  keeps  up  between  the  Indians  and  the  English."  1 

Thus  it  is  clear  that  as  between  the  obtaining  and  the  not  obtain- 
ing of  drink,  the  extra  travel  of  over  100  miles  made  no  difference  to 
the  Indians  of  this  early  date,  and  the  English  took  full  advantage  of 
the  commercial  benefits  thus  to  be  derived  over  their  more  con- 
scientious French  adversaries. 

In  1739,  the  pickets  of  the  fort  were  falling  down  and  were 
repaired.9 

In  1741,  the  Governor  of  New  York  reported  that  he  held  the 
Five  Nations  only  by  presents,  and  that  it  would  be  absolutely 
necessary  to  take  Fort  Niagara.3 

In  1745,  there  were  100  men  and  four  cannon  at  Fort  Niagara. 
Later,  the  French  policy  of  not  selling  brandy  to  the  Indians  was 
reversed. 

In  1750  Sir  William  Johnson  wrote  that  a  friend  of  his  had  seen 
a  letter  from  the  Lord  Lieutenant  at  Quebec  to  the  Commander  at 
Fort  Niagara,  authorizing  him  to  hold  the  Indian  trade,  "  even  if  it 
cost  the  Crown  30,000  livres  a  year,  and  also  to  supply  them  with 
what  rum  and  brandy  they  wanted." 

1  Col.  Doc.  N.  Y.,  vol.  IX.,  page  1049.  s  Col.  Doc.  N.  Y.,  vol.  IX.,  page  1068 
3Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  VI.,  page  186. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  29 

France  saw  the  growing  power  of  England,  and  recognized  that 
the  great  contest  for  supremacy  in  North  America  was  near  at  hand, 
and  tried  every  conceivable  effort  to  strengthen  herself. 

In   1751,  Fort  Niagara  was  further  strengthened.1 

In  1751,  Father  Picquet  visited  the  fort.  He  describes  it  "as 
well  located  for  defense,  not  being  commanded  from  any  point,  but 
the  rain  was  washing  the  soil  away  by  degrees,  notwithstanding  the 
vast  expense  which  the  king  incurred  to  sustain  it."2 

During  the  French  possession  of  Fort  Niagara,  beginning  in  1726, 
and  ending  in  1759,  that  fortress  served  many  purposes  and  yearly 
increased  in  importance. 

As  the  most  important  military  post  on  the  lakes,  as  a  stand- 
ing means  of  overawing  the  Indians,  as  the  greatest  trading  post 
in  the  country,  and  as  a  center  of  French  influence,  it  held  such 
a  commanding  position  that  England  was  determined  ultimately  to 
own  it. 

Rumor  says,  and  what  circumstantial  evidence  we  have  tends  to 
prove  it,  that  during  French  rule  it  was  also  used  as  a  State  prison, 
as  were  many  of  the  French  fortresses,  distant  from  France,  in  those 
days. 

S.  DeVeaux  says,  "The  dungeon  of  the  Mess  House,  called  the  black 
hole,  was  a  strong,  dark  and  dismal  place,  and  in  one  corner  of  the 
room  was  fixed  the  apparatus  for  strangling  such  unhappy  wretches 
as  fell  under  the  displeasure  of  the  despotic  rulers  of  those  days.  The 
walls  of  this  dungeon,  from  top  to  bottom,  had  engraved  upon  them 
French  names  and  mementoes  in  that  language.  That  the  prisoners 
were  no  common  persons  was  clear,  as  the  letters  and  emblems  were 
chiseled  out  in  good  style.  In  June,  1812,  when  an  attack  was 
momentarily  expected  upon  the  fort  by  a  superior  British  force,  a 
merchant,  resident  at  Fort  Niagara,  deposited  some  valuables  in  this 
dungeon.  He  took  occasion  one  night  to  visit  it  with  a  light.  He  ex- 
amined the  walls  and  there,  among  hundreds  of  French  names,  he 
saw  his  own  family  name  engraved  in  large  letters."  3 

This  dungeon  is  a  room  6  by  18  feet  in  size,  and  10  feet  high, 
whose  stone  walls  and  arched  stone  roof  contains  no  aperture  for 
light  or  air.  It  is  on  the  first  floor,  and  is  to-day  perfectly  accessible. 
The  well  of  the  castle  was  located  in  it. 

1  Winsor,  Nar.  and  Crit.  Hist,  of  Am.,  vol.  V.,  page  490.  2  Doc.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  vol.  I., 
page  283.  3The  Falls  of  Niagara,  1839,  PaSe  I2°- 


3o  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

Deveaux  was  of  French  descent,  born  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
i8th  century,  and  during  the  early  years  of  this  century  lived 
at  Fort  Niagara. 

Another  statement  of  his  that  "  this  old  fort  is  as  much  noted  for 
enormity  and  crime  as  for  any  good  ever  derived  from  it  by  the 
nation  in  occupation  "  is  probably  not  far  from  the  truth. 

As  improvements  and  extensions  were  made  in  the  fortifications, 
Fort  Niagara  became  a  place  of  great  strength,  and  was,  and  had  been 
for  some  years  when  England  captured  it,  the  most  important  spot 
in  North  America  south  of  Montreal  or  west  of  Albany. 

The  fortifications  at  one  period  are  said  to  have  covered  a  space  of 
nearly  eight  acres.  It  was  a  little  city  in  itself,  and  the  commander 
was  the  most  important  man  in,  and  the  practical  ruler  of,  a  vast 
tract  of  country. 

Included  within  this  acreage  were  the  various  buildings  and  forti- 
fications directly  connected  with  the  fort  proper,  and  the  buildings 
required  for  a  vast  trading  post.  The  gardens,  which  were  main- 
tained by  the  officers,  were  located  east  of  the  fortifications  on 
the  bluff  overlooking  the  lake. 

The  cemetery,  outside  the  fortifications,  was  "  a  few  rods  from 
the  barrier  gate,  and  filled  with  the  memorials  of  the  mutability 
of  human  life."  Over  the  portal  of  its  entrance,  in  large  letters,  was 
the  word  "  Rest,"  which,  if  the  fort  was  used  as  a  state  prison,  must 
have  been  full  of  significance  to  the  unhappy  prisoners,  at  least. 

Its  location  was  probably  the  same  as  that  of  the  garrison 
cemetery  of  to-day,  beneath  whose  sod  doubtless  lie  the  bones  of 
many  Frenchmen,  who,  in  times  of  peace  and  war,  "  for  the  good  of 
their  country,"  gave  up  their  lives  —  some  as  soldiers  in  their  country's 
service,  others  as  prisoners  of  state.  Here,  too,  no  doubt,  lie  the 
bones  of  many  Englishmen,  whose  lives  ended  at  this  historic  fort, 
far  from  their  native  land,  but  serving  her  interests. 

1744—1759. 

By  1744,  the  time  had  come  when  if  England  ever  expected  to 
own  more  than  the  Atlantic  slope  of  the  continent  she  had  to  arouse 
herself  to  greater  efforts  than  mere  intriguing  with  the  Indians  and 
sending  continual  remonstrances  to  Quebec. 

In  March  of  that  year  war  was  declared  between  France  and  Eng- 
land, and  the  colonies  of  New  York  and  New  England,  in  1745  and 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  31 

1746,  made  united  efforts  to  conquer  Eastern  Canada;  yet  England 
failed  to  aid  them  to  the  extent  promised,  and  in  1748  the  war  was 
ended  by  the  treaty  of  Aix  la  Chapelle. 

In  1754,  though  these  two  nations  were  nominally  at  peace,  the 
frontier  was  desolated  by  the  Indians  at  the  instigation  of  the 
French,  and  in  1755  four  expeditions  were  planned  by  the  English 
against  French  territory — one  of  these,  under  Braddock,  being  for 
the  recovery  of  the  Ohio  Valley.  Braddock's  army  was  ambushed 
and  routed,  and  among  the  spoils  captured  was  his  artillery  train, 
which  was  subsequently  taken  to,  and  used  in,  strengthening  Fort 
Niagara,  which  was  then  garrisoned  by  500  men.1 

To  another  of  these  expeditions,  under  Gov.  Shirley,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, was  assigned  the  duty  of  capturing  Fort  Niagara.  Soon 
after  leaving  Albany,  news  of  Braddock's  defeat  was  received,  and 
many  of  the  men  deserted.  The  troops  were  delayed  at  Oswego  for 
various  reasons,  till  the  season  was  too  late,  and  Shirley  led  his  forces 
back  to  Massachusetts. 

War  between  France  and  England,  though  it  had  existed  in 
America  for  nearly  two  years,  was  officially  declared  in  1756,  and  in 
that  year  another  attempt  to  capture  Niagara  was  planned.  Changes 
in  commanders  bred  internal  army  troubles,  and  when  the  Earl  of 
Loudon  finally  assumed  command,  he  abandoned  the  plan  that  had 
been  formed  to  attack  Niagara. 

In  1757,  fifty  Senecas,  headed  by  one  of  the  principal  chiefs  of  the 
Five  Nations,  came  to  Niagara  and  held  a  council  with  Pouchot,  who 
was  earnestly  intriguing  to  detach  the  said  Five  Nations  from  their 
friendship  toward  the  English.2 

In  1758,  none  of  the  three  expeditions  sent  out  by  England  was 
directed  against  Niagara. 

In  1759,  three  more  expeditions  were  sent  out  by  the  English,  one 
of  them,  under  Gen.  Prideaux,  to  capture  Niagara. 

The  English  reverses  of  latter  years  in  America  had  aroused  the 
English  Government  to  the  need  of  a  more  able  management;  and 
under  William  Pitts'  Premiership  was  commenced  the  campaign  of 
1759  tnat  was  t°  retrieve  England's  honor  and  losses,  and  leave  her 
the  absolute  victor  over  her  great  rival  on  this  continent. 

The  contemplated  attack  on  Fort  Niagara,  in  1755,  under  Shirley, 
had  told  the  French  that  that  fort  must  be  further  strengthened,  and 
1  Col.  Doc.  N.  Y.,  vol.  X.,  page  326.  2Col.  Doc.  N.  Y.,  vol.  X.,  page  586. 


32  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

Pouchot,  a  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Beam,  and  a  competent 
engineer,  was  sent  to  reconstruct  it.  He  reached  the  fort  with  a 
regiment  in  October,  1755.  Houses  for  these  troops  were  at  once 
constructed  in  the  Canadian  manner.  These  houses  consisted  of 
round  logs  of  oak,  notched  into  each  other  at  the  corners,  and  were 
quickly  built.  Each  had  a  chimney  in  the  middle,  some  windows 
and  a  plank  roof.  The  chimneys  were  made  by  four  poles,  placed 
in  the  form  of  a  truncated  pyramid,  open  from  the  bottom  to  a 
height  of  three  feet  on  all  sides,  above  which  was  a  kind  of  basket 
work,  plastered  with  mud.  Rushes,  marsh  grass  or  straw  rolled  in 
diluted  clay  were  driven  in  between  the  logs,  and  the  whole  plas- 
tered.1 

The  work  of  strengthening  the  fort  was  pushed  on  all  winter,  300 
men  being  in  the  garrison,  and  in  March,  1756,  the  artillery  taken  from 
Braddock  arrived.3 

By  July,  1756,  the  defenses  proposed  were  nearly  completed,  and 
Pouchot  left  the  fort. 

Vandreuil  stated  that  he  (Pouchot)  "had  almost  entirely  superin- 
tended the  fortifications  to  their  completion,  and  the  fort  which  was 
abandoned,  and  beyond  making  the  smallest  resistance  is  now  a  place 
of  considerable  importance  in  consequence  of  the  regularity,  solidity 
and  utility  of  its  works."3 

Pouchot  was  sent  back  to  Niagara,  as  commandant,  with  his  own 
regiment,  in  October,  1756,  and  remained  there  for  a  year.  He  still 
further  strengthened  the  fort  during  this  period,  and  when  he  left  he 
reported  that  "  Fort  Niagara  and  its  buildings  were  completed  and 
its  covered  ways  stockaded."  4 

On  April  30,  1759,  he  again  arrived  at  Niagara  to  assume  com- 
mand and  "  began  to  work  on  repairing  the  fort,  to  which  nothing  had 
been  done  since  he  left  it.  He  found  the  ramparts  giving  way,  the 
turfing  all  crumbled  off  and  the  escarpment  and  counter  escarpment 
of  the  fosses  much  filled  up.  He  mounted  two  pieces  to  keep  up 
appearances  in  case  of  a  siege."5  A  plan  of  Fort  Niagara  in  1759, 
from  Pouchot's  own  work,  "  Memoires  sur  la  derni^re  guerre,"  etc., 
published  in  1781  is  given  herewith. 

From  the  general  laudatory  tone  of  his  own  work  we  are  led  to 
feel  that  Pouchot  overpraised  his  own  work  of  fortifying  Niagara  in 

1  Hough's  Pouchot,  vol.  I.,  page  53.  9Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  VII.,  page  282.  3Col. 
Doc.  N.  Y.,  vol.  X.,  page  411.  4  Hough's  Pouchot,  vol.  I.,  page  94.  5  Hough's  Pouchot, 
vol.  I.,  page  142. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 


33 


B.—  Lake  Ontario  Haitian. 
C.—Barracl-*,  Store*  and  vettiye* 

of  the  old  Fort. 
D.— Niagara  Gate. 
&.— Haitian  at  the  Gate  of  Ae 

fite  Nation*. 


POUCHOT'S    PLAN    OF    FORT    NIAGARA,    1759, 

With  the  addition  of  the  three  parallels  built  by  the  English  during 
the  siege.  Inside  the  fortifications  is  shown  the  shape  and  plan  of 
the  Old  Fort,  namely,  that  built  by  De  Nonville  in  1687,  whose  shape 
was  no  doubt  retained  after  1/25,  when  the  French  built  the  castle 
(which  is  shown  in  this  cut  in  dotted  lines),  and  gradually  built  the 
fort  with  bastions  around  it. 


34  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

1756  and  1757,  when  no  immediate  attack  was  looked  for,  otherwise  it 
could  hardly  have  been  in  so  poor  a  condition  eighteen  months  after- 
wards (1759,  as  first  quoted),  unless,  as  is  very  likely,  he  foresaw  defeat 
when  attacked,  as  he  was  advised  it  would  be,  and  wanted  to  gain  special 
credit  for  a  grand  defense  under  very  disadvantageous  conditions. 

By  July  Pouchot  had  finished  repairing  the  ramparts.  He  gives 
this  description  of  the  defense  : 

"The  batteries  of  the  bastions  which  were  in  barbette  had  not  yet 
been  finished.  They  were  built  of  casks  and  filled  with  earth.  He 
had  since  his  arrival  constructed  some  pieces  of  blindage  of  oak,  four- 
teen inches  square  and  fifteen  feet  long,  which  extended  behind  the 
great  house  on  the  lake  shore,  the  place  most  sheltered  for  a  hospital. 
Along  the  faces  of  the  powder  magazine  to  cover  the  wall  and  serve 
as  casemates,  he  had  built  a  large  storehouse  with  the  pieces  secured 
at  the  top  by  a  ridge.  Here  the  guns  and  gunsmiths  were  placed. 
We  may  remark  that  this  kind  of  work  is  excellent  for  field-forts  in 
wooded  countries,  and  they  serve  very  well  for  barracks  and  magazines, 
a  bullet  could  only  fall  upon  an  oblique  surface  and  could  do  little 
harm,  because  this  structure  is  very  solid."  1 

Pouchot  says  that  the  garrison  of  the  fort  at  this  time  consisted  of 
149  regulars,  183  men  of  colonial  companies,  133  militia  and  21  can- 
noniers. 

A  total  of  486  soldiers  and  39  employees,  of  whom  5  were  women 
or  children.  These  served  in  the  infirmary,  as  did  also  two  ladies, 
and  sewed  cartridge  bags  and  made  bags  for  earth.2 

There  were  also  some  Indians  in  the  fort,  and  the  officers  may 
not  have  been  included  in  this  number.  The  fort  was  capable  of  ac- 
commodating 1,000  men. 

A  corvette,  called  the  Iroquoise,  fully  manned  and  carrying  ten  or 
twelve  guns,  arrived  at  Niagara  July  6th,  and,  during  the  early  part 
of  the  siege  at  least,  its  commander  placed  himself  under  Pouchot's 
orders. 

THE   BRITISH   BESIEGE   THE   FORT. 

On  July  6th  an  English  army,  which  had  been  collected  at  Oswego, 
under  command  of  Gen.  Prideaux,  consisting  of  2,200  regulars  and 
militia,  and  750  Indians  under  Sir  Wm.  Johnson,  arrived  at  the  Little 
Swamp,  about  four  miles  east  of  Fort  Niagara,  and  threw  up  an 
entrenchment. 

1  Hough's  Pouchot,  vol.  I.,  page  161.   2  Hough's  Pouchot,  vol.  I.,  page  161. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  35 

Prideaux  had  hardly  gotten  out  of  sight  of  Osvvego  before  a  force 
of  Canadians  and  Indians  under  La  Corne  arrived  there,  intending  to 
surprise  and  capture  the  place,  and  cut  off  the  troops  from  joining  in 
the  attack  on  Niagara.  But  the  French  did  not  make  the  most  of 
their  opportunity  for  a  surprise,  and  the  English  threw  up  breast- 
works, and  on  two  successive  days  repulsed  the  attacks  of  the 
French. 

Pouchot  says  of  this  attack  on  Oswego,  "  If  all  our  forces  had  fol- 
lowed the  first  detachment,  we  might  have  taken  these  English  troops 
very  easily,  because  they  were  surprised  and  much  disconcerted  at  the 
first  moment.  Had  this  body  been  defeated  Niagara  would  have  been 
saved,  as  their  army  could  not  have  received  the  troops  and  supplies 
that  were  sent  for  them."  ' 

In  which  view,  considering  the  history  of  the  siege  of  Fort  Niagara, 
I  think  Pouchot  is  entirely  wrong. 

On  the  evening  of  July  6th  one  of  the  garrison,  who  had  been  out 
hunting,  rushed  in  and  told  Pouchot  that  he  had  seen  an  Indian  war- 
party.  A  reconnoitering  force  was  sent  out,  which  learnt  the  truth 
of  the  hunter's  report,  by  encountering  a  volley  that  drove  it  back  to 
the  fort. 

Fully  satisfied  that  a  siege  was  about  to  be  begun,  Pouchot,  while 
communications  were  still  open,  sent  a  messenger  to  the  French  posts 
in  the  south-west,  calling  on  their  garrisons  and  the  friendly  Indians 
to  come  to  his  aid. 

In  spite  of  warnings  Pouchot  seems  to  have  been  taken  somewhat 
unawares,  or  he  would  have  had  all  needed  available  troops  at  Fort  Ni- 
agara, instead  of  having  to  send  for  them  at  the  very  last  possible 
moment. 

Pouchot's  messenger  stopped  first  at  Fort  de  Portage  or  little  Ni- 
agara, a  dependency  of  Fort  Niagara,  which  had  been  erected  by  the 
French  at  the  upper  end  of  the  Portage,  a  mile  or  more  above  the 
Falls,  about  1750.  This  was  now  commanded  by  Chabert  Joncaire,  a 
younger  son  of  that  Joncaire  who  secured  the  consent  for  Fort  Ni- 
agara's ultimate  erection  through  the  Senecas'  cession  to  him  for  a 
cabin  at  Lewiston.  Pouchot  ordered  him  to  retreat  to  Chippawa,  on 
the  Canada  side  of  the  river,  and  just  opposite,  if  the  English  ap- 
peared, the  dependency  being  in  a  weak  condition.  Joncaire  removed 
all  the  movable  property  to  Chippawa  Creek,  burned  the  buildings  in 
'Hough's  Pouchot,  vol  I.,  page  209 


36  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

Fort  Little  Niagara,  and  hastened  to  Fort  Niagara,  where  his  brother 
had  preceded  him.1 

Prideaux's  army  consisted  of  the  Forty-fourth  and  Forty-sixth 
regiments,  the  Fourth  Battalion  of  Royal  Americans,  two  battalions 
of  New  York  troops,  a  detachment  of  the  Royal  Artillery  and  a  large 
body  of  Indians,  many  of  whom  had  till  recently  been  hostile  to  the 
English,  under  Sir  William  Johnson,2  whose  success  in  this  campaign 
added  to  his  already  great  reputation  of  being  the  best  Indian 
manager  that  England  ever  had  on  this  continent.  His  name  must 
forever  be  closely  associated  with  the  history  of  Fort  Niagara. 

It  is  impossible  in  this  article  to  treat  of  the  details  of  this 
memorable  siege.  For  these,  from  the  French  side,  I  refer  the  reader 
to  Pouchot's  "  Memoires  sur  la  derniere  guerre,  etc.,"  published  in 
1781,  a  very  rare  book.  Hough's  translation,  1866,  is  obtainable  with 
greater  ease. 

For  the  English  view  I  refer  him  to  Mante's  History  of  the  late 
War  in  North  America,  1772.  That  part  of  the  Journal  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam Johnson  published  by  Stone  in  his  life  of  the  Baronet  is  alsa 
an  authentic  record  of  events  soon  after  the  surrender  and  as  to  his 
dealings  with  the  Indians  at  that  time  and  later. 

On  July  8th  the  English  reconnoitered,  and  on  the  gth  Prideaux 
sent  a  captain  of  the  Royal  Americans,  Blaine  by  name,  with  a  letter 
to  Pouchot,  demanding  his  surrender,  which  was  refused  ;  and  that 
night  the  English,  who  had  already  sent  a  force  to  occupy  the  river 
bank  and  the  roads  south  of  the  fort,  thus  completely  hemming  Fort 
Niagara  in  by  land,  began  opening  a  trench  east  of  the  fort,  and  on 
the  iiththey  erected  batteries.  Parleys  between  some  Indians  in 
the  fort  and  the  Indian  chiefs  in  the  English  army  were  held  outside 
the  fort,  firing  on  and  from  the  fort  being  suspended  meanwhile. 

Several  other  parleys  followed  during  several  successive  days,  but 
Sir  William  Johnson's  influence  proved  strong  enough  to  keep  the 
great  majority  of  his  Indian  allies  from  abandoning  the  English  and 
suddenly  becoming  neutral,  and  thus  Pouchot's  hopes  and  attempts  to 
detach  the  large  body  of  Indians  from  the  besiegers  proved  futile. 

The  English,  working  especially  at  night,  slowly  but  steadily,  built 
three  trenches,  all  east  of  the  fort  and  each  one  nearer  than  the 
former,  the  last  one  being  only  about  one  hundred  yards  from  the 
outworks.  They  kept  adding  new  batteries,  from  which  showers  of 

1  Hough's  Pouchot,  vol.  I.,  page  166.     '2  Hough's  Pouchot,  vol.  I.,  page  159. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  37 

hot  shot  and  shell  were  poured  upon  the  fort  night  and  day.  Those 
in  the  fort  replied  almost  continuously,  and  each  morning  battered 
those  new  works  which  the  English  had  built  during  the  night.  The 
cannonading  on  the  part  of  the  besiegers,  however,  was  carried  on  with 
the  most  vigor. 

On  the  i/th  the  English  had  occupied  the  west  bank  of  the  river 
at  its  mouth,  and  thrown  up  works  and  mounted  batteries  on  the  then 
called  "  Montreal  Point,"  and  attacked  the  fort  from  that  side  also. 
This  caused  much  alarm  and  danger  to  those  in  the  fort,  and  com- 
pelled them  to  erect  defenses,  as  that  side  of  the  fort  was  protected 
only  by  an  entrenchment. 

On  the  iQth  General  Prideaux  was  killed  in  one  of  the  trenches 
by  the  bursting  of  a  shell  from  a  cohorn,  before  which  he  was  pass- 
ing. The  command  of  the  English  forces  devolved  on  Sir  William 
Johnson,  who  carried  on  the  siege  with  even  greater  vigor.  The 
continued  firing  had  on  the  22d  made  a  large  breach  in  the  walls 
of  the  fort,  the  battery  and  parapet  of  the  flag  bastion  being  com- 
pletely demolished,  and  into  this  breach  grape  and  musketry  were 
continuously  poured  in  a  way  that  one  of  the  garrison  described  as 
terrific. 

On  the  22d  hot  shot  was  poured  into  the  fort  from  both  sides; 
fires  were  started  by  them  in  several  places,  but,  by  great  precautions 
and  risk,  the  fires  did  no  great  damage,  although  many  of  the  fort 
buildings  were  of  wood. 

By  the  23d  the  garrison  were  in  straights.  Sacks  to  be  filled  with 
earth  and  used  to  repair  the  damage  by  shells  were  all  used.  There 
were  no  cannon  wads  left,  and  even  hay,  used  in  their  place,  was  not 
on  hand — and  the  mattrasses  on  the  beds,  both  the  covering  and  the 
straw,  had  been  used  up.  The  arms  were  also  in  such  bad  condition, 
that  scarcely  one  gun  in  ten  was  of  service. 

On  the  morning  of  the  23d,  under  a  white  flag,  four  Indians  came 
to  the  fort.  They  brought  two  letters  from  D'Aubrey  and  De  Lignery, 
the  French  commanders  at  Venango  and  Presque  Isle,  in  answer  to 
Pouchot's  summons  for  aid  —  the  earlier  one  saying  they  were  about 
starting,  and  the  other  telling  of  their  arrival  at  Navy  Island,  just 
above  Niagara  Falls,  and  asking  for  information  and  advice. 

Pouchot  had  sent  word  that  the  English  besiegers  might  number 
5000,  besides  4000  Indians,  and  the  replies  said  1600  French  and  1200 
Indians  were  coming  to  his  aid. 


38  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

Pouchot  sent  four  copies  of  his  answer,  one  by  each  of  the  messen- 
gers, hoping,  as  proved  to  be  correct,  that  one  might  reach  its  destina- 
tion. 

On  the  29th  firing  was  heard  south  of  the  fort  and  an  Indian  later 
brought  in  word  to  Pouchot  that  the  French  relieving  party  had  been 
routed.  Trembling  for  the  safety  of  this  important  post,  D'Aubrey  and 
DeLignery  had  sailed  with  their  forces  and  coming  down  the  Niagara 
River  (appearing  like  a  floating  island,  as  the  river  was  covered  with 
their  bateaux  and  canoes)  had  first  landed  on  Navy  Island,  then  crossed 
the  river  to  Fort  Little  Niagara,  and  hurried  along  the  shortest 
route  to  Fort  Niagara. 

Sir  William  Johnson,  apprised  of  their  movements  by  his  Indian 
scouts,  on  the  23th,  leaving  a  large  force  in  the  trenches,  to  prevent  the 
garrison  of  Fort  Niagara  from  co-operating  with  D'Aubrey,  marched 
south,  and,  early  in  the  morning  of  the  24th,  met  them  an  eighth  of  a 
league  from  the  fort,  at  a  place  then  called  "  La  Belle  Famille,"  in  the 
present  village  of  Youngstown,  in  sight  of  the  fort,  whose  garrison, 
owing  to  Johnson's  foresight,  were  prevented  from  making  a  sortie, 
as  had  been  planned,  as  the  relieving  force  approached.  His  regulars 
occupied  the  road  leading  from  the  falls  to  Fort  Niagara,  along  which 
the  French  were  advancing,  while  his  Indians  were  posted  on  his  flanks. 
The  French  being  thus  caught  in  an  ambush,  and  seeing  the  English 
forces  lightly  entrenched,  opened  fire  on  them  at  short  range. 

The  English  Indians  poured  a  galling  fire  into  their  ranks,  the  Brit- 
ish regulars  charged  with  great  fury,  and  at  the  end  of  half  an  hour  the 
French  broke  and  fled  in  confusion.  They  were  pursued  for  over  five 
miles,  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  were  killed,  and  ninety-six  pri- 
vates and  twenty-seven  officers,  among  them  the  commanders  D'Aubrey 
and  De  Lignery,  and  the  famous  Marin,  were  taken  prisoners.  The 
Indians  of  the  English  force  behaved  uncommonly  well. 

Sir  William  Johnson  soon  after  sent  Major  Hervey  to  Pouchot,  de- 
tailing the  above  events,  and  demanding  his  surrender.  Pouchot  sent 
an  officer  to  the  English  camp,  who  saw  and  talked  with  the  prisoners, 
and  returned  with  the  statement  that  all  was  true  as  reported. 

An  examination  of  their  fortifications,  etc.,  having  been  made,  a 
conference  of  the  fort  officers  urged  a  surrender,  and  the  garrison  it- 
self clamored  for  an  end  to  the  siege. 

Pouchot  had  left  but  135  men  fit  and  equipped  for  duty ;  there 
were  only  140  guns  left  that  were  in  condition  for  service;  24000 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  39 

pounds  of  powder  had  been  burnt,  and  54,000  pounds  were  yet  left,  109 
men  had  been  killed  or  wounded,  37  were  sick,  and  under  the  most 
favorable  conditions  the  fort  could  not  hold  out  longer  than  two  days, 
it  being  in  a  battered  and  exposed  condition  on  all  sides. 

Pouchot  assented  to  a  surrender  and  contended  for  the  best  possi- 
ble terms. 

SURRENDER  AND  EVACUATION. 

These  terms  stipulated  that  the  garrison  should  march  out  with 
arms  and  baggage  and  one  cannon,  lay  down  their  arms  but  retain 
their  baggage,  be  transported  in  vessels,  furnished  by  the  British,  to 
New  York,  and  that  they  should  be  protected  from  attacks  by  the 
Indian  allies  of  the  English. 

These  articles  were  signed  on  the  night  of  the  24th,  and  between 
ten  and  eleven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  July  25,  1759,  a  part  of 
the  English  forces  occupied  the  fort.  Johnson  had  posted  troops 
on  every  side  of  the  fort  to  prevent  the  Indians  from  entering  it, 
but  an  hour  after  the  English  troops  had  entered  the  Indians  scaled 
it  on  every  side,  and  in  half  an  hour  after  more  than  500  of  them 
were  inside  the  ramparts,  but  they  remained  quiet. 

The  English  had  asked  Pouchot  to  have  the  garrison  deliver  up 
their  arms  under  the  pretext  that  they  would  then  be  in  a  better 
condition  to  defend  the  Frenchmen.  Pouchot  steadily  refused,  and 
assured  them  that  if  it  were  done  they  could  not  restrain  their 
Indian  allies.  His  judgment  was  undoubtedly  correct,  for  if,  as  it 
turned  out,  the  English  could  not  prevent  the  Indians  from  entering 
the  fort,  it  is  not  probable  that  they  could  have  prevented  them 
from  assaulting  the  French  had  these  been  unarmed. 

Pouchot  dined  Johnson  and  some  officers,  and  these  officers,  after 
the  dinner,  helped  themselves  to  all  movables  in  the  room. 

The  Indians  took  everything  they  could  reach,  even  to  door-hinges ; 
they  pillaged  the  King's  store-house,  and  broke  open  all  the  barrels  of 
flour. 

The  French  officers  had  taken  the  precaution  to  put  some  of  their 
belongings  in  the  powder  magazine;  these  were  saved, but  everything 
else  was  carried  off  by  the  victors. 

The  English  officers  probably  took  first  pick  of  everything,  the 
soldiers  had  the  next  chance  at  what  was  left,  then  the  Indians  were 
allowed  to  pillage  the  fort,  which  they  did  most  thoroughly. 


40  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

The  garrison  was  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle  on  the  parade  ground, 
their  arms  in  their  hands,  their  haversacks  between  their  legs.  Their 
officers  were  with  them,  and  in  this  position  they  remained  for 
30  hours,  or  until  the  time  for  embarkation. 


FRENCH    MAGAZINE   AND    BARRACKS. 

The  Indians  at  first  tried  to  take  the  arms  from  the  men  as  they 
stood  in  line.  Pouchot  had  warned  his  men  not  to  use  their  weapons 
against  the  Indians,  but,  if  attacked  by  them,  to  kick  them  or  strike 
them  in  the  stomach  with  their  fists,  for  it  was  of  no  consequence  to 
an  Indian  to  be  struck  in  this  way,  nor  would  other  Indians  take  his 
part,  as  they  would,  were  he  struck  with  a  sword  or  a  gun.  The  men 
obeyed  their  orders,  struggled  for  and  retained  their  arms. 

Had  the  wind  permitted  the  bateaux  in  which  the  English  had 
come  from  Oswego  to  be  gotten  out,  it  was  Pouchot's  intention  to 
send  a  part  of  the  garrison  away  before  giving  up  possession  of  the 
fort,  but  this  proved  impossible. 

On  the  afternoon  of  July  26th,  the  garrison,  with  guns  on  their 
shoulders,  drums  beating,  and  with  two  cannons  at  the  head  of  the 
column,  marched  out  of  the  fort  and  down  to  the  beach.  Here  they 
laid  down  their  arms,  entered  the  boats  that  were  in  readiness,  and 
started  for  Oswego. 


SIR    WILLIAM    JOHNSON. 

Good  diplomat  that  he  was,  with  such  an  unruly  crowd  as  his 
Indians  were  likely  to  be,  Sir  William  Johnson  seems  to  have  been 
willing  to  grant  as  favorable  terms  of  surrender  as  he  consistently 
could. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    I\T  HISTORY.  41 

He  had  established  for  himself  a  new  line  of  fame  —  a  military 
commander.  He  wanted  to  have  the  glory  of  capturing  the  great 
Fort  Niagara ;  he  did  not  want  any  delay  that  would  enable  Prideaux's 
successor,  who  proved  to  be  Gen.  Gage,  to  reach  the  spot  and  be  in 
command  at  the  surrender.  His  one  aim  was  to  take  Fort  Niagara. 
He  succeeded ;  and  as  the  last  of  the  French  garrison  put  off  in  the 
bateaux  on  their  journey  to  New  York,  he  must  have  stood  on  the 
broken  ramparts,  his  mind  filled  with  pleasant  thoughts. 

He  had  won  for  England,  and  won  by  his  own  energy  and  diplo- 
macy, that  spot  which  she  had  craved  for  fully  80  years.  Innumer- 
able times  had  the  suggestion  for  the  erection  of  a  fort  here  by 
force  been  made  to  her  by  various  ones  of  her  colonial  officers. 
Seventy-one  years  before  she  had  caused  France  to  abandon  the  fort 
that  that  nation  had  erected  here ;  but  for  the  last  33  years  that 
hated  rival  had  maintained  here  a  center  of  commercial  and  military 
power. 

Now  all  was  changed.  The  English  flag  floated  over  the  long 
coveted  spot,  and  the  credit  of  its  capture,  at  the  time  and  for  all 
time,  belonged  to  him  —  Sir  William  Johnson. 

BRITISH    CONTROL. 

Sir  William  Johnson's  diary  gives  the  number  of  prisoners  in  the 
garrison  as  607  men  and  n  officers,  besides  women  and  children.  Of 
the  relieving  force  which  he  routed,  he  captured  27  out  of  30  officers, 
whom  he  ransomed.  Ninety-six  prisoners,  and  150  scalps,  taken  in 
the  rout  of  this  relieving  force,  he  divided  among  the  several  nations 
of  his  Indian  allies.1 

The  English  losses  during  the  siege,  including  the  action  of  July 
24th  against  the  relieving  force,  he  states  as  60  killed  and  1 80  wounded, 
besides  three  Indians  killed  and  five  wounded.2 

The  ordnance  stores  captured  in  the  fort  were  43  iron  cannon  of 
various  sizes,  1,500  round  shot,  40,000  Ibs.  musket  balls,  500  hand 
grenades,  besides  axes,  hatchets,  picks,  shovels,  etc.,  for  use  in  erect- 
ing fortifications  — also  tomahawks,  scalping  knives,  etc. 

Let  us  here  note  the  presence,  in  the  besieging  army,  of  two  men, 
whose  names  will  appear  again  later  on  in  this  narrative. 

Joseph  Brant,  the  great  Mohawk  chieftain,  later  one  of  the  greatest 
Indians  of  history  (in  some  particulars  one  of  the  best,  in  others 

1  Stone's  Life  of  Sir  Wm  Johnson,  vol.  II,  page  395.  2  Stone's  Life  of  Sir  Wm  Johnson, 
vol.  II,  page  396 


42  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

far  from  it),  was  with  Sir  William  Johnson's  Indian  allies  at  the  siege, 
then  a  lad  only  seventeen  years  of  age. 

John  Butler,  noted  later  on  as  commander  of  Butler's  Rangers, 
father  of  the  notorious  Walter  Butler,  was  second  in  command  of  the 
Indians,  until  Johnson  became  commander  of  the  army  at  Prideaux' 
death,  when  he  succeeded  him  as  leader  of  the  Indian  contingent. 

After  the  capture  John  Butler  was  a  member  of  the  council  estab- 
lished at  Fort  Niagara  for  the  trial  of  civil  cases. 

In  view  of  this  successful  siege,  as  well  as  the  conquest  of  Quebec 
and  Ticonderoga  in  this  campaign,  it  is  interesting,  and  even  amusing, 
to  read  the  criticisms  on  Pitts'  plans  for  1759. 

"The  Niagara  expedition  was  a  mistake  in  the  judgment  of  some 
military  critics,  since  the  troops  directed  to  accomplish  it  had  been 
used  more  effectively  in  Amherst's  direct  march  to  Montreal 
More  expedition  on  that  general's  part  in  completing  his  direct  march 
would  have  rendered  the  fall  of  Niagara  a  necessity  without  attack. 
Perhaps  the  risk  of  leaving  French  forces  still  west  of  Niagara, 
ready  for  a  siege  of  Fort  Pitt,  is  not  sufficiently  considered  in  this 
view."  ' 

Parkman  also  considers  this  siege  an  error.2 

But  Niagara  had  been  captured,  to  the  glory  of  the  British  army. 

Johnson  at  once  set  to  work  to  put  Niagara  in  a  defensible  condi- 
tion, and  remained  there  for  ten  days. 

On  July  28th,  Gen.  Prideaux  and  Col.  Johnson  of  the  Provincial 
troops  were  buried  in  the  fort  chapel  with  great  ceremony.  Sir  Wil- 
liam himself  being  chief  mourner.8 

This  reference  to  the  chapel,  and  the  fact  that  a  priest  was  among 
the  prisoners  taken,  shows  that  the  French  always  paid  attention  to 
the  spiritual  need  of  their  soldiers,  though  probably  not  purely  for 
religious  reasons ;  and,  further,  that  the  priestly  influence  in  state 
councils  was  still  powerful. 

Johnson  made  plans,  also,  for  the  building,  at  Niagara,  of  two  ves- 
sels, of  from  16  to  18  guns  each,  considering  them  necessary  for  the 
military  protection  of  Fort  Niagara  and  Oswego.  He  also  sent  for  a 
number  of  carpenters  to  repair  Niagara. 

In  the  fort  there  remained  a  few  French  officers  and  privates,  pris- 
oners who  were  not  able,  by  reason  of  wounds  or  sickness,  to  be 

1  Winsor  Narrative  and  Crit.  Hist,  of  Am  ,  vol.  V.,  page  600.  2  Parkman,  Montcalm  and 
Wolfe,  vol.  II.,  page  253.  3  Stone's  Life  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  vol.  II.,  page  395.  he 
copies  the  latter's  diary. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  43 

moved.  Orders  were  given  by  Johnson  to  have  all  possible  care  taken 
of  them,  not  to  allow  any  Indians  to  have  any  communication  what- 
ever with  them,  and  when  they  were  recovered  to  have  them  sent 
safely  to  Oswego. 

As  to  the  Indians  found  friendly  to  the  French  they  were  to 
be  civilly  treated  ;  inducements  to  trade,  at  prices  better  than  the 
French  hcd  given,  were  to  be  held  out  to  them;  but  not  more  than 
twenty  of  them  at  a  time  were  to  be  admitted  to  the  fort. 

The  artillery  and  stores  were  to  be  put  in  proper  order  and  the 
artillery  placed  to  the  best  advantage. 

On  August  4th  Johnson  embarked  for  Oswego,  leaving  Fort  Nia- 
gara in  charge  of  Col.  Farquhar  of  the  44th  Regiment,  with  a  garrison 
of  700  men,  which  was  afterwards  reduced  to  a  peace-footing  of  200. 

For  several  years  after  the  capture  of  Fort  Niagara,  Sir  William 
Johnson  was  —  so  far  as  the  Indians  living  within  a  radius  of  300  miles 
of  that  fort  were  concerned — the  most  important  and  the  most 
trusted  man  in  America.  He  had  held  that  position  for  some  time 
toward  all  the  tribes  east  of  the  Senecas,  and  now  that  the  French 
were  beaten  he  logically  and  naturally  extended  his  influence  over 
those  who  sided  with  the  French,  and  now  looked  for  favors  from  the 
victors. 

The  real  seat  of  his  influence,  though  he  resided  much  farther 
east,  was  at  Niagara.  There  after  the  capture  he  had  met  many 
warriors  and  some  sachems  of  recently  hostile  tribes,  and  had  paved 
the  way  for  bringing  them  under  English  influence  and  trade.  His 
orders  to  Col.  Farquhar  as  to  his  treatment  of  these  Indians  were  ex- 
plicit. He  was  in  frequent  communication  with  the  officers  at  Niagara, 
and  it  was  on  his  advice  and  through  his  personal  influence  that  England 
extended  and  maintained  her  power  over  the  tribes  in  all  directions. 

In  the  fall  of  1760,  Major  Robert  Rogers,  sent  by  Gen.  Amherst 
to  officially  visit  several  of  the  former  French  Posts,  arrived,  with  two 
companies  of  his  Rangers,  in  whale  boats,  at  Niagara;  and,  after  a 
brief  visit,  taking  80  barrels  of  provisions  from  the  stores  here,  pro- 
ceeded on  his  way  West.1 

In  1/61,  Sir  William  Johnson  stayed  several  days  at  Niagara  on  his 
way  to,  and  also  on  his  return  from,  Detroit,  and  busied  himself  with 
directions  as  to  the  Indian  trade,  and  took  pains  to  walk  over  and 
examine  his  old  encampment  of  1759. 
1  Journal  of  Major  Robert  Rogers. 


44 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 


In  1761,  the  English  re-established  a  dependency  of  Fort  Niagara  at 
the  upper  end  of  the  portage  above  the  falls. 

Near  where  Fort  Little  Niagara,  burned  in  1759  as  noted,  had 
stood,  they  erected  a  fortification,  and  named  it  Fort  Schlosser,  after 
Captain  John  Joseph  Schlosser,  who  had  charge  of  its  erection.  He 
was  a  German,  who  had  served  in  the  English  army  at  the  capture  of 
Fort  Niagara.1 

Shortly  before  the  siege  the  French  had  prepared  the  frame  work 
for  a  chapel  at  Fort  Niagara.  It  is  uncertain  whether  it  was  set  up 
or  not,  but  probably  it  was.  The  English,  in  1761,  took  this  frame 
work  over  the  portage  to  Fort  Schlosser,  set  it  up  there  and  used 
it  for  a  mess  house. 

In   1762,  the  English  built  the  present  "  bake  house." 


THE    BAKE    HOUSE. 

In  1762,  the  Indians  became  dissatisfied,  because  some  of  the 
English  traders  had  commenced  building  dwelling  houses  along 
the  portage,  which  was  in  violation  of  existing  agreements,  and  later 
on  in  that  year  the  commandant  at  Fort  Niagara  was  ordered  to  put 
a  stop  to  any  settlement  on  the  carrying  place. 
1  Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  X  ,  page  731. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  45 

Fort  Niagara  was  still  the  spot  where,  and  its  commander  the 
man  to  whom,  all  Indian  grievances  were  brought,  and  through 
him  all  such  disputes  were  settled,  and  by  him  all  decisions  were 
enforced. 

Such  was  Fort  Niagara  when  the  English  first  controlled  it.  It 
was  the  head  centre  of  the  military  life  of  the  entire  region,  the  guar- 
dian of  the  great  highway  and  portage  to  and  from  the  west ;  and 
hereabouts,  as  the  forerunners  of  a  coming  civilization  and  frontier 
settlement,  the  traders  were  securing  for  themselves  the  greatest 
advantages. 

To  the  rude  transient  population  —  red  hunters,  trappers,  Indian- 
ized  bush  rangers  —  starting  out  from  this  center,  or  returning  from 
their  journeys  of  perhaps  hundreds  of  miles  to  the  West ;  trooping 
down  the  portage  to  the  fort,  bearing  their  loads  of  peltries,  and 
assisted  by  Indians,  who  here  made  a  business  of  carrying  packs 
for  hire,  Fort  Niagara  was  a  business  headquarters.  There  the 
traders  brought  their  guns  and  ammunition,  their  blankets,  and  cheap 
jewelry,  to  be  traded  for  furs ;  there  the  Indians  purchased,  at  fabu- 
lous prices,  the  white  man's  "  fire  water,"  and  many,  yes,  numberless, 
were  the  broils  and  conflicts  in  and  around  the  fort,  when  the  soldiers, 
under  orders,  tried  to  calm  or  ejected  the  savage  element  which  so 
predominated  in  the  life  of  the  garrison. 

On  February  10,  1763,  peace  between  France  and  England  was 
formally  concluded,  and  by  it  France  ceded  to  England  all  her 
Canadian  possessions. 

THE    DEVIL'S    HOLE    MASSACRE. 

In  the  fall  of  1763,  Pontiac  had  organized  his  great  conspiracy, 
and  the  Senecas,  whose  hostility  to  the  English  had  been  noted  by 
Sir  William  Johnson  two  years  before,  and  which  was  partly  due  to 
their  bitterness  at  their  loss  of  the  business  at  the  portage  —  English- 
men now  monopolizing  that  business,  and  employing  carts,  instead  of 
Indian  carriers  —  were  ready  to,  and  did,  co-operate  with  him,  urged  on 
thereto,  no  doubt,  by  French  influence  and  intrigue,  in  what  they 
hoped  would  prove  the  means  of  driving  the  English  from  Fort 
Niagara.  This  hostility  of  the  Senecas  had  made  it  necessary  to 
maintain  a  garrison  at  the  foot  as  well  as  at  the  head  of  the  portage  ; 
and  for  large  or  valuable  trains,  guards  of  soldiers  were  furnished 
from  the  fort. 


46  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

On  September  14,  1763,  a  new  portage  road  had  been  finished 
between  Lewiston  and  Schlosser,  and  a  train  of  25  wagons  and  100 
horses  and  oxen,  guarded  by  troops  from  Fort  Niagara,  variously  stated 
at  from  25  to  300,  set  out  for  Schlosser.1  At  the  Devil's  Hole,  the 
Senecas,  to  the  number  of  500,  ambushed  and  pillaged  the  train, 
threw  the  wagons  and  oxen  down  the  bank,  and  slew  all  but  three  of 
the  escort  and  drivers.  Hearing  the  firing,  the  garrison  at  Lewiston, 
consisting  of  two  companies,  hastened  to  help  their  comrades.  But 
the  Senecas  had  prepared  an  ambush  also  for  this  expected  action, 
and  all  but  eight  of  this  force  were  killed.  Some  of  these  eight 
carried  the  news  to  Fort  Niagara,  whence  the  commander,  with  all 
the  soldiers,  leaving  a  sufficient  guard  for  the  fort,  hastened  to  the 
scenes  of  the  slaughter.  The  Senecas  had  fled,  but  over  80  scalped 
corpses,  including  those  of  six  officers,  bore  bloody  witness  to  their 
hatred  of  the  English.2 

In  November,  1763,  these  savages  still  haunted  the  neighborhood, 
and  killed  two  of  the  garrison  at  the  lower  end  of  the  portage,  as 
they  were  cutting  wood  in  sight  of  their  quarters. 

Fort  Niagara  needed  to  be  maintained  and  well  garrisoned. 

On  the  collapse  of  Pontiac's  bold  and  partly  successful  scheme, 
the  Senecas,  fearful  of  receiving  at  the  hands  of  the  English  the 
punishment  they  so  richly  deserved,  sent,  in  April,  1764,  four  hundred 
men  to  Sir  William  Johnson  at  Johnson  Hall  to  beg  for  peace.3 

Now  was  the  time  for  England  to  make  the  Senecas  pay  off  the 
Devil's  Hole  debt,  and  Sir  William  Johnson  was  the  man  to  force 
the  settlement. 

Yet  he  was  too  shrewd  to  think  of  demanding  life  for  life,  or  any 
galling  condition  that  would  have  involved  England  in  a  war  for 
the  extermination  of  the  Senecas. 

No,  he  desired  most  of  all  that  the  Senecas  should  be  the 
friends  of  the  English,  and  so  he  made  them  pay  for  their  past 
misdeeds  in  land. 

England  already  had  the  occupation  of  this  territory  along  the 
Niagara  River.  She  wanted  also  the  unquestioned  fee.  Here  was 
Sir  William's  chance,  and  he  improved  it.  He  insisted  that,  beside 
other  conditions,  the  Senecas  should  cede  to  England  (as  if  they 
had  not  already  deeded  it  to  her  three  or  four  times)  all  the  land 

1  Holland  Land  purchase,  page  229.  Narrative  of  Mary  Jemison,  1826,  page  142. 
2  Stone's  Life  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  vol.  II.,  page  208.  3  Stone's  Life  of  Sir  Wm.  Johnson, 
vol.  II.,  page  215. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  47 

on  both  sides  of  the  Niagara  River  from  Lake  Ontario  to  Schlosser, 
thus  taking  in  Fort  Niagara  and  her  two  dependencies  (at  Lewiston, 
which  was  really  only  a  camp,  and  at  Fort  Schlosser)  and  the  port- 
age. The  Senecas  assented,  provided  the  land  be  always  appro- 
priated to  the  king's  sole  use,  and  provided  that  a  definite  treaty  be 
had  within  three  months,  and  that  the  lines  be  run  in  presence  of  Sir 
William  Johnson  and  the  Senecas,  so  as  to  preclude  any  subsequent 
misunderstandings.  Eight  chiefs  signed  the  agreement,  which,  by 
the  way,  they  never  intended  to  keep,  although  they  left  three  of 
their  chiefs  with  Johnson  as  hostages.1 

THE    GREAT   TREATY    OF    1764. 

Before  this  visit  of  the  Senecas,  arrangements  had  already  been 
completed  by  the  British  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  another  con- 
spiracy like  that  of  Pontiac.  All  the  tribes  whose  friendship,  with  a 
reasonable  expectation  of  its  permanency,  could  be  obtained  by  pres- 
ents and  good  treatment  were  to  be  secured  in  this  way. 

Against  all  others,  armies  were  to  be  sent  to  crush  and  overawe 
them. 

The  occasion  when  the  above  treaty  with  the  Senecas  was  to  be 
ratified  was  a  general  meeting  of  all  Indian  tribes  who  desired  peace, 
at  Fort  Niagara  in  July,  1764,  to  which  Johnson  had  already  invited 
them,  in  order  to  readjust  their  relations  with  the  English  Govern- 
ment. 

Two  military  expeditions  were  planned,  one  for  the  West,  under 
General  Bradstreet,  1,200  strong,  which  assembled  at  Oswego  in  June, 
1764,  where  it  was  joined  by  Sir  William  Johnson,  with  550  Iroquois. 
They  reached  Niagara  July  3,  1764,  and  found  there  such  a  scene  of 
life  and  activity  as  one  can  hardly  conceive  of  to-day. 

In  this  expedition  was  Israel  Putnam,  a  lieutenant-colonel  of  the 
Connecticut  Battalion.2 

Over  one  thousand  Indians,  representing  many  tribes,  extending 
from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  whose  num- 
bers but  a  few  days  later  were  increased  to  2,060,  were  assembled  to 
meet  and  treat  with  Johnson.3 

Such  a  representative  concourse  of  Indians  had  never  before  been 
seen. 

1  Col.  Docs.  N.  Y.,  vol.  VII.,  pages  621,  622,  623.  2  Turner's  Holland  Purchase,  1849, 
page  234  3Stone's  Life  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  vol.  II.,  page  219 


48  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

Their  wigwams  stretched  far  across  the  fields  and  to  this  pictur- 
esque scene  were  now  added  the  white  tents  of  Bradstreet's  men. 

Many  reasons  had  induced  this  great  assemblage  of  Indians. 
Some  came  to  make  peace  because  the  aid  expected  from  the  French 
had  not  been  forthcoming ;  some  because  they  were  tired  of  war ; 
some  because  they  needed  clothing,  ammunition,  etc.,  and  could 
get  them  in  no  other  way;  some  to  protest  their  friendship  for 
the  English ;  some  by  an  early  submission  to  avert  retribution  for 
past  offenses ;  some  came  as  spies,  and  some,  no  doubt,  because 
they  knew  that  at  such  a  time  "  fire  water "  would  be  easily 
obtainable. 

Alex.  Henry,  the  trader,  tells  how  the  Great  Turtle,  the  Spirit  that 
never  lied,  on  being  consulted  as  to  what  course  the  Ojibways  should 
pursue,  told  them  the  English  soldiers  were  on  the  war-path  already, 
and  also  said,  "Sir  William  Johnson  will  fill  your  canoe  with  presents, 
with  blankets,  kettles,  guns,  gunpowder  and  shot,  and  large  barrels  of 
rum,  such  as  the  stoutest  of  the  Indians  will  not  be  able  to  lift,  and 
every  man  will  return  in  safety  to  his  family." ' 

The  Ojibways  accepted  Johnson's  invitation  and  were  present. 

Henry  himself  came  to  Niagara  at  this  time,  and  accompanied 
Bradstreet  westward. 

Though  this  assemblage  consisted  of  peace-desiring  savages,  their 
friendly  disposition  was  not  certain.  Several  straggling  soldiers  were 
shot  at,  and  great  precautions  were  taken  by  the  English  garrison  to 
avert  a  rupture.  "  The  troops  were  always  on  their  guard,  while  the 
black  muzzles  of  the  cannons,  thrust  from  the  bastions  of  the  fort, 
struck  a  wholesome  awe  into  the  savage  throng  below."  8 

But  among  all  the  throng  the  Senecas  were  not  represented,  in 
spite  of  their  promise  to  ratify  their  agreement  at  this  time. 

They  were  at  home,  considering  whether  they  would  keep  it,  for 
they  had  already  made  an  alliance  with  other  tribes  against  the  Eng- 
lish. Notice  was  sent  to  them,  that  unless  they  at  once  fulfilled  their 
agreement,  the  army  then  at  Niagara  would  forthwith  march  against 
them  and  burn  their  villages.  A  large  body  of  this  war-like  tribe, 
overawed  by  this  menace,  at  once  went  to  Niagara. 

It  took  all  the  diplomacy,  shrewdness  and  influence  of  Sir  William 
Johnson  to  preserve  crder  and  peace  among  the  savages,  many  who 
had  been  hostile  to  each  other,  and  but  lately  fighting  against  the 
1  Henry's  Travel,  1809,  page  171.  2  Parkman,  Pontiac,  vol.  II.,  page  170. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  49 

English,  and  the  business  of  the  assemblage  detained  him  at  the  fort 
for  a  month. 

The  council-room  (which  was  located  in  the  castle)  was  crowded 
from  morning  till  evening;  but  the  tiresome  formalities  which  had  to 
be  observed  on  such  occasions,  the  speeches  made  and  the  replies 
thereto,  the  smoking  of  pipes,  the  distribution  of  presents,  the  judici- 
ous serving  out  of  whiskey,  the  terms  of  each  treaty,  the  tax  on  the 
memory  of  remembering  what  each  belt  of  wampum  given  by  and 
received  from  each  tribe  meant,  while  fatiguing,  were  finally  success- 
fully brought  to  an  end. 

One  point  of  policy  was  rigidly  adhered  to.  Johnson  would 
hold  no  general  conference  ;  with  each  tribe  he  either  made  a  separate 
treaty,  or  where  satisfactory  treaties  were  already  in  existence  he 
merely  brightened  the  chain  of  friendship.  By  this  course  he  made 
the  best  of  terms,  by  promoting  a  rivalry  among  the  tribes.  He  also 
thus  discouraged  a  feeling  of  union  and  of  a  common  cause  among 
them.1 

First  of  all  he  met  the  Senecas,  and,  till  their  agreement  had  been 
ratified  and  the  lines  of  the  land  to  be  deeded  to  England  had  been 
settled,  Sir  William  would  transact  no  other  business. 

The  Senecas  ratified  their  former  agreement,  and  on  August  6th 
they  deeded  to  the  English  crown  a  strip  of  land  four  miles  wide  on 
each  bank  of  the  Niagara  River  from  Lake  Erie  to  Lake  Ontario, 
thus  adding  to  their  former  agreement  all  the  land  from  Schlosser  to 
Lake  Erie,  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  Gen.  Bradstreet  had  asked 
Johnson  to  try  and  get  this  extra  cession,  in  order  that  England 
might  have  title  to  the  land  where  Fort  Erie,  at  the  source  of  the 
Niagara  River,  on  the  Canada  side,  now  stands.  He  was  anxious  to 
build  a  depot  for  provisions  there.  Johnson  asked  for  it.  The 
Senecas  were  ready  to  do  anything  asked  of  them  while  that  English 
army  was  on  the  ground,  so  they  readily  assented.  They  specially 
excepted  from  their  grant,  and  gave  to  Sir  William  Johnson  person- 
ally, as  a  gift,  all  the  islands  in  the  Niagara  River,  and  he  promptly 
gave  them  to  his  Sovereign.2 

This  was  the  first  tract  of  land  in  the  limits  of  the  present 
Western  New  York  to  which  the  Indian  title  was  absolutely  extin- 
guished, and  this  remarkable  land  deal,  so  vast  in  the  amount  of  ter- 
ritory involved,  so  beneficial  to  the  whites  in  the  power  it  gave  them 

1  Parkman,  Pontiac,  vol.  II.,  page  174.     2  Col.  Doc.  N.  Y.,  vol.  VII.,  pape  647. 


50  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

for  trade,  and  the  settlement  of  the  country,  and  of  such  enormous 
subsequent  value  in  view  of  very  recent  developments  along  this 
frontier,  was  closed  132  years  ago,  within  the  historic  fortifications  of 
Fort  Niagara. 

From  this  time  on,  for  fully  30  years,  especially  during  the 
Revolution,  the  Senecas  were  allied  with  and  espoused  the  cause  of 
the  English. 

The  treaties  with  the  many  other  tribes  were  then  arranged  with- 
out difficulties.  On  August  6th,  Sir  William  Johnson  seems  to  have 
completed  the  formalities  by  having  a  separate  treaty  with  each  tribe, 
with  which  a  new  treaty  was  desired,  officially  signed. 

So  fearful  was  Johnson  that  some  unforeseen  occurrence  might 
prevent  the  successful  carrying  out  of  this  stupendous  negotiation, 
and  so  anxious  was  he  about  rumors  of  an  attack  on  Fort  Niagara  by 
this  savage  assemblage,  that  Gen.  Bradstreet's  army,  now  increased  to 
over  2,000  English  and  Canadians  and  1,000  Indians,  was  detained  at 
Fort  Niagara  till  August  8,  1764. 

By  that  date  the  Indians,  having  made  theii  peace  and  secured  their 
presents,  had  started  for  their  homes,  the  great  assembly  had  melted 
away,  the  danger  of  any  attack,  that  the  garrison  was  not  strong 
enough  to  resist,  was  past ;  and  Gen.  Bradstreet,  leaving  an  addition 
to  the  garrison  at  Fort  Niagara,  marched  his  army  to  Fort  Schlosser, 
there  to  embark  for  the  west.1  The  cost  of  this  Indian  congress  at 
Niagara  was  considerable.  The  expense  of  provisions,  for  the  Indians 
only,  was  ,£25,000  New  York  currency,  equal  to  about  $10,000,  while 
.£38,000  sterling,  or  $190,000,  was  expended  for  the  presents  made  to 
them.2  It  was  money  well  spent  by  England. 

1764—  1776. 

During  Sir  William  Johnson's  administration  of  Indian  affairs  after 
1759,  the  Common,  now  the  Military  Reserve  on  the  Canadian  side, 
was  used  as  an  Indian  camping  ground,  and  there  annually  the  Six 
Nations  and  the  Western  tribes  congregated  within  gunshot  of  the 
fort,  to  receive  their  annual  gifts  and  allowances  from  the  British 
government. 

Let  us  note  that  when  the  French  built  the  first  stone  house  at 
Niagara,  in  1725,  they  did  not  build  it  close  to  the  water,  either  of  the 

1  Mante,  History  of  Late  War  in  N.  A.,  page  511.  2  Montresor  Journals,  N.  Y.  Hist. 
Soc  ,  1881,  page  275. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  51 

river  or  the  lake.  In  those  days,  all  through  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  during  the  first  third  of  this  century,  a  large  tract  of  land,  that 
has  now  been  washed  away,  existed  at  the  foot  of  the  bluff,  extending 
to  the  northwest  for  some  thirty  rods  right  out  into  the  lake ;  and  in 
the  memory  of  men  now  alive1  a  fruit  orchard  stood  on  this  land, 
where  now  is  a  depth  of  ten  or  twelve  feet  of  water.  Quite  a  strip  of 
land  also  extended  out  beyond  the  present  shore  line  into  the  river, 
opposite  the  castle  and  above  it. 

As  evidence  of  this,  turn  to  Pouchot's  plan  of  the  fort,  on 
Page  33>  where  this  large  area  is  shown  as  existing  in  1759.  The 
French  Mess  House,  or  Castle,  was  originally  built,  not  on  the  edge  of 
the  bluff,  but  probably  one  hundred  feet  from  both  the  lake  and  river 
side. 

A  further  evidence  of  the  existence  of  this,  now  washed-away  land 
is  the  fact  that  on  the  lake  side  of  the  fort,  just  opposite  the  angle 
of  the  wall,  where  stand  the  three  poplar  trees,  plainly  visible  when  the 
water  is  low,  and  generally  visible  from  the  wall,  though  overgrown 
with  water  moss,  are  the  perfectly  traceable  remains  of  a  half-moon 
battery  used  in  those  early  days,  undoubtedly  part  of  the  north  demi- 
bastion,  which  was  re-established  in  1789,  and  used  in  1759.*  The 
English  are  said  to  have  added  a  story  to  the  "  Castle."  3 

The  first  story  was  built  by  the  French  in  1725,  as  noted  before, 
and  the  second  was  probably  built  by  them  soon  afterwards. 

It  is  not  certain,  but  probable,  that  the  roof  of  the  Castle  had 
been  adapted  to  defensive  purposes,  and  the  stone  walls  carried 
up  beyond  the  roof,  to  serve  as  a  breastwork  for  gunners  there. 
The  extra  story  that  the  British  added  to  the  Castle,  was  probably 
the  present  timbered  roof  through  which  so  many  chimneys  pro- 
trude. 

The  two  square  stone  block-houses  now  standing  within  the  forti- 
fications were  built  by  the  French,4  and  the  walls  carried  up  beyond  the 
roofs.  Sheltered  by  these  walls,  batteries  were  placed  on  the  roofs, 
and  were  used  as  late  as  the  War  of  1812.  The  present  roofs  on  these 
two  block-houses  are  modern  affairs. 

The  present  roof  over  the  old  French  magazine  is  also  a  modern 
one,  being  merely  a  cover  over  the  great  stone  arch,  which  is  the  real 
roof  of  the  building. 

1  Notably  Mr.  Thomas  Brighton  of  Youngstown,  N.  Y.  2  Hough's  Pouchot,  vol.  I., 
page  168.  3  Turner's  Holland  Purchase,  page  189.  4  Rochefoucault's  Travels,  1799,  vol. 
I.,  page  257. 


52  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

In  1767  Captain  Jonathan  Carver,  a  well-known  English  traveler, 
visited  the  fort,  which,  he  said,  "was  defended  by  a  considerable  gar- 
rison." ' 

One  of  the  traditions  that  has  clung  to  the  fort,  and  that  started 
in  the  days  of  English  occupation,  is,  that  in  the  dungeon  of  the  Mess 
House,  before  referred  to,  where  there  is  a  well,  now  boarded  over, 
at  midnight  could  be  seen  the  headless  trunk  of  a  French  general, 
clothed  in  his  uniform,  sitting  on  the  curbstone  of  this  well  and  moan- 
ing, as  if  beseeching  some  one  to  rescue  his  body  from  the  bottom  of 
the  well,  where,  after  his  murder,  it  had  been  thrown.  This  well  was 
subsequently  poisoned  and  its  use  necessarily  discontinued.  The 
well  inside  the  earthworks,  and  near  the  sally  port,  is  possibly  the  well 
referred  to  in  the  list  of  buildings  left  by  the  French  when  they  dis- 
mantled the  fort  in  1688,  though  I  think  this  is  improbable,  and  that 
it  belongs  to  a  much  later  period. 

From  1767  on  till  the  opening  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution  one 
finds  but  little  public  history  in  connection  with  the  fort,  though  its 
importance  was  in  no  way  diminished,  but  rather  increased. 

DURING   THE    REVOLUTION. 

While  the  war  from  1776-1783  never  reached  this  spot  in  actual 
hostilities,  Fort  Niagara  was  the  spot  where  heartless  Britishers  and 
still  more  blood-thirsty  savages  studied,  planned  and  arranged  those 
terrible  attacks  on  defenseless  settlers  that  on  so  many  occasions 
spread  death  and  devastation  through  prosperous  settlements  and 
regions,  and  carried  off,  most  frequently  to  this  fort,  wretched  cap- 
tives whose  term  of  captivity  in  the  hands  of  the  savages  was  usually 
only  a  living  death.  The  history  of  Fort  Niagara  during  its  entire 
existence  has  no  blacker  nor  fouler  page,  nay  none  nearly  so  black  nor 
inhuman,  as  that  which  embraces  the  years  1776-1783. 

Far  away  from  the  actual  seat  of  war,  feeling  perfectly  safe  from 
attack,  its  British  Commandants  seem  to  have  given  free  scope  to 
every  form  of  Indian  warfare  that,  regardless  of  its  inhumanity,  would 
in  any  way  aid  in  crushing  out  the  colonists. 

During  this  period  portions  of  several  regiments  of  British  Reg- 
ulars in  succession  garrisoned  the  fort.  It  was  necessary  for  England 
to  maintain  it  with  a  strong  garrison,  in  order  to  impress  the  savages 
by  show  of  force,  and  to  keep  them  continually  aroused  to  the 
'Carver's  Travel,  1781,  page  170. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  53 

necessity  of  aiding  the  English  by  constant  expeditions,  organized 
and  sent  out  from  here,  of  devastation  and  death. 

Sir  William  Johnson  had  lost  a  part  of  his  influence  over  the 
Indians  during  the  few  years  prior  to  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1774. 

Had  he  been  alive,  I  would  do  his  memory  the  justice  to  believe 
that  the  inhumanities  planned  at  and  executed  from  Fort  Niagara, 
during  the  Revolution,  would  never  have  been  allowed,  to  the  extent 
at  least  that  they  attained. 

In  all  his  domination  over  the  Indians,  and  he  exercised  a  one-man 
power  for  many,  many  years,  he  recognized  that  a  nation,  to  be  thor- 
oughly successful,  must  not  forfeit  the  public  confidence  of  the  world 
by  too  great  atrocities. 

The  atrocities  perpetrated  from  Fort  Niagara  during  the  Revolu- 
tion only  added  to  the  determination  and  exertions  of  the  colonists 
to  throw  off  the  British  yoke  ;  and  the  stories  of  these  atrocities  gave 
France  an  extra  excuse  to  extend  the  friendly  and  needed  aid  that  she 
furnished,  at  first  secretly,  afterwards  openly,  to  those  who  were 
struggling  for  their  freedom  from  the  rule  of  her  hated  rival  and  her 
recent  conqueror  in  North  America. 

On  the  commencement  of  hostilities  in  1776,  a  great  council  of 
Indian  tribes  was  called  to  meet  at  Fort  Niagara,  and  here  in  Sep- 
tember gathered  representatives  of  the  Six  Nations  and  ten  other 
tribes,  favorable  to  the  English.  The  assembled  chiefs  all  signed  a 
manifesto  in  favor  of  the  Crown,  and  appealed  to  the  Oneidas  and  Tus- 
caroras,  who  were  not  fully  represented,  to  join  them.1  Some  of  these 
afterwards  complied.  Then,  after  the  customary  distribution  of  pres- 
ents and  "  fire  water,"  the  braves  were  sent  back  to  gather  together 
their  tribes  for  the  war-path,  to  put  on  the  war-paint  and  to  sharpen 
their  tomahawks. 

JOHN    BUTLER   AND    JOSEPH    BRANT. 

John  Butler  and  Joseph  Brant  both  made  Fort  Niagara  their  real 
headquarters  during  the  Revolution,  and,  no  matter  who  was  in  actual 
command  of  the  fort,  these  two  were  the  recognized  leaders,  respec- 
tively, of  the  English  and  the  Indian  forces  there. 

The  former  recruited  from  all  over  the  country,  but  most  largely 
from  Western  New  York  and  Northern  Pennsylvania,  the  famous 
band  known  as  Butler  Rangers,  and  their  headquarters  were  at  the 

1  Stone's  Life  of  Brant,  vol.  II.,  page  4,  note. 


54  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

Fort.  Thayendanegea  or  Brant,  the  great  captain  of  the  Six  Nations, 
gathered  his  Indians  from  all  sides,  and  Fort  Niagara  was  their  ren- 
dezvous. 

Each  of  these  two  great  leaders  had  many  great  and  good  qualities. 
There  was  no  international  code  of  warfare  actually  recognized  at  that 
time,  particularly  so  far  as  regarded  Indian  warfare,  and  they  were,  no- 
doubt,  influenced  to  many  atrocities  by  the  customs  of  the  age. 
Many  barbarities  committed  by  troops  under  their  immediate  com- 
mands, were  in  violation,  it  is  claimed,  of  their  orders  and  in  spite  of 
their  influence;  while  those  perpetrated  by  parties  sent  off  from  their 
commands  and  outside  of  the  orders  given,  should  not  be  charged 
against  them.  They  both  repeatedly  issued  orders  for  the  sparing  and 
protection  of  women  and  children,  and  both  on  many  occasions,  by 
their  personal  influence,  saved  many  lives.  Yet  both  were  regarded 
as  death-dealing  and  devastating  foes,  and  with  good  reason. 

Walter  Butler,  a  son  of  John  Butler,  was  also  a  leader  of  these  ex- 
peditions sent  out  from  Fort  Niagara  to  kill,  rob  and  destroy,  and  in 
unsavory  memory  he  outranked  his  more  famous  father  and  even  Brant. 

It  should  be  here  noted  that  just  prior  to  the  revolution  Brant  had 
led  a  band  of  the  Mohawks  to  Lewiston,  where  he  lived  in  a  block 
house,  which  stood  near  what  was  called  Brant's  Spring.  The  huts 
of  his  followers  were  located  along  the  Ridge  road,  east  of  Lewiston.1 
A  little  log  building  near  by  was  built  and  used  as  a  chapel,  and  here 
the  episcopal  service  was  read  occasionally  by  the  fort  chaplain  or 
traveling  ministers.  This  was  probably  the  first  building,  outside  of 
Fort  Niagara,  erected  for  a  church  in  this  section.  A  good-sized  bell, 
hung  in  the  crotch  of  a  tree  near  by,  called  the  Mohawks  to  service. 
John  Bulter,  who  was  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  lived  in  a  com- 
modious house  in  Fort  Niagara. 

On  these  foraging  parties,  largely  planned  by  Brant  and  Butler, 
during  the  Revolution,  Fort  Niagara  to  a  very  large  extent  relied  for 
means  of  subsistence,  and  on  every  raid,  from  far  and  near,  cattle 
and  supplies  were  regularly  sent  back  to  the  fort,  their  base  of 
operations. 

In  each  and  every  year,  from  1778  to  1782,  these  foraging  parties, 
and  still  larger  expeditions,  were  regularly  sent  out  from  the  fort,  and 
as  regularly  as  provisions  were  sent  back,  iust  as  regularly  were  pris- 
oners and  scalps  brought  back  within  its  walls. 
'Turner's  Holland  Purchase,  page  265. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  55 

The  fearful  massacre  of  Wyoming  in  Pennsylvania  in  1778  was 
planned  at  and  the  expedition  set  out  from  Fort  Niagara.  The  fatal 
attack  on  Cherry  Valley  in  the  same  year  was  the  result  of  another 
expedition  sent  out  from  the  same  fort. 

From  the  commencement  of  the  war,  the  colonists  had  endeavored 
by  every  means  to  secure,  if  not  the  aid,  at  least  the  neutrality  of  the 
savages,  and,  while  they  kept  up  their  efforts  in  this  direction,  by 
emissaries  sent  among  them,  they  proved  to  be  futile. 

The  desire  to  capture  Fort  Niagara  was  continually  in  the  minds 
of  the  Colonial  leaders,  but  not  till  late  in  1778,  when  the  atrocities, 
perpetrated  by  bands  from  that  far-off  stronghold  made  its  reduction 
seem  a  matter  of  necessity,  was  an  expedition  planned  for  its  capture. 

The  Senecas  were  faithful  to  the  English,  and  urged  incessant  war 
on  the  Colonial  settlements,  and  in  1779  Gen.  Washington  sent  Gen. 
Sullivan  with  a  small  army  to  chastise  them,  even  as  De  Nonville 
had  done  eighty-seven  years  before,  and  ordered  him  then  to  proceed 
to  and  capture  Fort  Niagara. 

Sullivan  entered  the  Senecas'  territory  with  4,000  men,  burned 
their  villages,  provisions  and  crops,  and  defeated  them  in  several  small 
engagements.  They  fled  westward  to  the  protecting  guns  of  Niagara, 
and  Sullivan,  for  some  reason,  the  ostensible  ones  being  lack  of  food 
for  his  army  and  lack  of  boats  to  transport  his  troops,  gave  up  the 
rest  and  the  most  important  part  of  his  projected  expedition,  and 
Fort  Niagara  was  saved. 

Had  he  pushed  on,  he  would  have  found  a  horde  of  nearly  5,000 
famished  savages  around  the  fort,  and  a  weak  and  sickly  garrison 
within,  and  he  could  have  easily  captured  it.  But  he  lacked  the  abil- 
ity to  seize  the  great  chance  offered  him,  and  Niagara  remained  in 
British  hands,  a  scourge  to  the  colonists  for  three  years  to  come.  His 
expedition  merely  prepared  the  way  for  the  famine  and  want  the 
Senecas  soon  felt. 

The  winter  of  1779  was  very  inclement  and  many  of  the  savages 
around  the  fort  died  from  exposure  and  starvation.1  In  the  early 
spring  of  1780  some  disposition  had  to  be  made  of  these  hundreds  of 
Senecas.  They  could  not  be  tolerated  around  the  fort  and  be  fed 
from  there,  and  they  refused  to  go  back  to  their  lands  from  which 
Gen.  Sullivan  had  driven  them.  Brant  during  the  winter  had  strongly 
urged  the  Mohawks  and  the  Senecas  to  emigrate  to  Canada.  The 

1  Turner's  Holland  Purchase,  page  281. 


56  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

Mohawks  and  a  few  from  other  tribes  agreed  to  this,  and  went.  But 
the  Senecas,  under  the  lead  of  one  of  their  chiefs,  refused,  and  decided 
to  settle  on  Buffalo  and  Tonawanda  creeks,  where  they  claimed  to 
own  the  land  through  their  ancestors'  conquest  of  the  Neuters  in 
1651.  They  had  deeded  this  to  England,  as  mentioned  in  1764,  but 
that  nation  made  no  objection.  These  Senecas  and  their  descendants 
subsequently  became  allies  of  the  United  States,  and  fought  in  our 
army  in  the  war  of  1812. 

Some  of  the  Oneidas  and  Tuscaroras,  who  had  been  allies  of  the 
English,  and  had  fled  to  Fort  Niagara  before  Sullivan's  advance  in 
1779  were  also  about  Fort  Niagara.  In  the  spring  of  1780  part  of 
them  returned  to  their  own  land  and  a  part  settled  on  a  square  mile 
of  land  some  four  miles  southeast  from  Fort  Niagara,  near  the  Ridge 
Road,  where  their  descendants  to-day  reside.  This  land  was  given  to 
them  by  the  Senecas.  In  1804  the  Holland  Land  Company  gave 
them  two  square  miles  more, —  these  and  over  4000  more  acres 
bought  for  them,  constitute  the  Tuscarora  Reservation  of  to-day. 

The  Tuscaroras  thus  became  the  first  permanent  settlers  in  this 
region,  settling  here  17  years  before  the  Holland  Land  Company 
opened  up  the  territory.1 

In  1 780  and  1781  expeditions  were  sent  out  from  Fort  Niagara  with 
the  same  deadly  purposes  and  results  ;  notable  among  them  being 
two  expeditions  to  the  Mohawk  Valley  in  1780,  and  two  others 
to  the  same  district  in  1781,  in  the  last  of  which  Walter  Butler  was 
slain. 

Opposite  Fort  Niagara,  on  the  Canada  side,  each  winter  Butler's 
Rangers  lived,  and  at  one  time  six  companies  of  them  were  quartered 
there.  Outside  of  and  near  the  fort  a  few  wretched  savages  built 
huts  each  winter  and  eked  out  a  precarious  existence,  subsisting  on 
what  they  could  obtain  from  the  scant  remains  of  the  garrison's 
rations.  Two  sons  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  Sir  John  and  Guy,  both 
leaders  of  and  agents  in  the  British  Indian  Department,  were  promi- 
nent during  the  Revolution,  and  both  were  frequently  at  Fort  Niagara 
during  this  period. 

During  the  winters  of  the  war-period  the  garrison  of  the  fort  were 
often  on  short  rations,  and  the  necessity  of  provisioning  it  for  a  long 
period  was  frequently  represented  to  the  British  Ministers,  but  with- 
out any  favorable  reply. 

1  Turner's  Holland  Purchase,  page  183. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  57 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  moral  and  social  life  within  Fort  Niagara 
during  the  period  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 

DeVeaux  says,  "  During  the  American  Revolution  it  was  the 
headquarters  of  all  that  was  barbarous,  unrelenting  and  cruel.  Here 
were  congregated  the  leaders  and  chiefs  of  those  bands  of  murderers 
and  miscreants  that  carried  death  and  destruction  into  the  remote 
American  settlement.  There  civilized  Europe  revelled  with  savage 
America,  and  ladies  of  education  and  refinement  mingled  in  the  society 
of  those  whose  only  distinction  was  to  wield  the  bloody  tomahawk 
and  scalping  knife.  There  the  squaws  of  the  forest  were  raised  to 
eminence,  and  the  most  unholy  unions  between  them  and  officers  of 
highest  rank  smiled  upon  and  countenanced.  There  in  their  strong- 
hold, like  a  nest  of  vultures,  securely  for  seven  years,  they  sallied  forth 
and  preyed  upon  the  distant  settlements  of  the  Mohawk  and  the 
Susquehanna.  It  was  the  depot  for  their  plunder;  there  they 
planned  their  forays,"  and  there  they  returned  to  feast  until  the  hour 
of  action  came  again.1 

Many  men,  including  especially  Butler's  Rangers,  obtained  during 
their  service  in  the  Revolution  a  training  for  war  that  enabled  them 
to  render  efficient  aid  to  Great  Britain  against  the  United  States  in 
the  war  of  1812. 

The  Revolution  ended  in  victory  for  the  Colonies  in  1783.  The 
Canadian  side  opposite  Fort  Niagara  then  became  the  objective 
point  of  many  of  those  colonists  who  sided  with  the  British  during 
the  war,  many  of  whom  had  here  enlisted  in  Butler's  Rangers,  and 
many  of  them  settled  there;  such  settlements  having  been  especially 
encouraged  hereabouts  by  the  British  officials  during  the  war. 

Among  the  clauses  in  the  Treaty  of  Peace  at  Paris,  1783,  was  one 
that  provided  protection  to  and  time  for  those  colonists  who  had 
sided  with  England,  United  Empire  Loyalists,  as  they  were  called, 
and  who  were  then  living  in  the  colonies,  in  order  that  they  might 
dispose  of  their  property  ;  and  the  English  commissioners  to  that 
treaty,  appreciating  how  unpopular  these  U.  E.  Loyalists  would  be 
while  they  remained  among  their  victorious  neighbors,  and  foreseeing 
that  it  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  get  all  the  separate 
colonies  to  ratify  such  a  clause  as  the  American  commissioners 
agreed  to,  insisted  on  retaining  possession  of  five  western  forts,  con- 
ceded to  be  an  American  territory,  until  such  time  as  the  conditions 
1  The  Falls  of  Niagara,  1839,  page  119. 


58  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

named  were  fulfilled.  This  also  was  agreed  to  by  the  American  com- 
missioners. Fort  Niagara  was  one  of  these  forts.  So,  in  1783,  we 
entered  into  what  is  called  in  history  "  the  hold-over  period,"  which 
lasted  for  13  years,  a  much  longer  time  that  any  of  the  commis- 
sioners  on  either  side  had  contemplated. 

THE   HOLD-OVER   PERIOD. 

The  treaty  of  peace  in  1783  only  suspended  hostilities,  and  when 
soon  after  Gen.  Washington,  sent  to  arrange  for  the  evacuation 
of  the  posts  still  held  by  the  British,  he  found  no  such  instruc- 
tions had  been  given  to  their  commanders.  A  full  consideration  of 
England's  real  reasons  for  delay  in  this  matter  is  not  a  part  of  our 
subject,  but  it  is  pretty  certain  that  even  till  after  the  war  of  1812 
England  hoped,  for  one  reason  and  another  to  be  able  to  hold  these 
forts  forever,  and  ultimately  to  regain  the  vast  empire  she  had  just 
surrendered  by  compulsion  to  her  American  colonists.1 

Gov.  Simcoe,  formerly  colonel  of  Simcoe's  Rangers,  a  noted  British 
regiment  in  the  Revolution,  often  and  openly  expressed  this  view 
while  holding  the  high  position  of  Governor  of  Upper  Canada.2 

As  many  of  the  U.  E.  Loyalists  as  could  do  so  prepared  as 
speedily  as  possible  to  remove  to  Canada,  and  the  majority  of  those 
who  went  westward,  in  distinction  of  those  that  went  to  northeast 
Canada,  came  by  Niagara,  and  all  of  them  who  were  in  need  were  fed 
during  their  stay  here,  from  the  fort. 

It  is  estimated  that  during  1783  and  1/84  no  less  than  5,000  of 
the  United  Empire  Loyalists  emigrated  to  Canada,  at  this  point,  and 
this  emigration  continued  up  to  1790,  by  which  time  fully  10,000  had 
passed  by  and  received  aid  at  Fort  Niagara. 

In  1784,  John  Butler,  who  was  the  Indian  superintendent  at  the 
fort,  convened  a  great  Indian  council  on  the  Niagara  plains,  in  Canada, 
opposite  the  fort,  where  the  Six  Nations  met  the  Mississaguas.  The 
commons  were  covered  with  their  wigwams  and  the  shore  was  lined 
with  their  bark  canoes. 

The  summer  of  1788  was  an  almost  rainless  one.  There  were  no 
crops  raised,  and  that  year  is  known  as  the  "  Hungry  Year."  Stores 
were  issued  liberally  from  the  fort  during  1789  and  1790  to  all  in 
need,  otherwise  many  would  have  starved. 

1  Rochefoucault's  Travels,  1799,  v°l-  !•>  pages  240  and  241.  *  Read's  Life  and  Times  of 
Gov.  Simcoe,  page  251. 


OLD   FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  59 

In  1790,  H.  R.  H.  the  Duke  of  Kent  paid  a  visit  to  Fort  Niagara 
and  personally  interested  himself  in  the  distribution  of  food  and 
clothing  to  the  needy  Loyalists. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  hold-over  period  the  English  kept  the 
strictest  surveillance  over  this  whole  frontier,  and  persons  traveling 
hereabouts  were  more  than  liable  to  be  arrested  and  taken  to  Fort 
Niagara  by  the  Indians,  unless  they  could  exhibit  a  pass  from  the 
commandant,  which  pass,  as  the  Indians  could  not  read,  was  a  thick 
piece  of  card  having  on  it  a  large  wax  seal  bearing  a  particular  im- 
pression. 

A  trader,  stopping  at  Fort  Niagara,  called  on  the  commander,  who 
asked  where  he  was  going.  "To  Chippawa,"  he  replied.  "Go  along 
and  be  damned  to  you,"  was  the  answer  and  verbal  passport  he  re- 
ceived. 

A  fine  specimen  of  British  civility  during  the  "hold-over  period." 

In  the  fall  of  1789,  Gother  Mann  commanding  the  Royal  Engineers 
made  a  report  on  Fort  Niagara.  After  referring  to  the  re-establishing 
of  the  north  demi-bastion,  which  had  been  greatly  damaged  and  part- 
ly washed  away  by  the  fury  of  the  lake,  he  goes  on  to  speak  of  a 
survey  of  the  heights  on  the  Canada  side  of  the  river  about  Navy  Hall, 
later  Gov.  Simcoe's  residence,  with  a  view  of  establishing  a  perma- 
nent fort  there,  "which  might  counteract  the  designs  of  an  enemy  in 
his  attack  on  the  Fort  of  Niagara."  In  1790,  in  another  report,  he 
stated  "  that  the  space  on  which  Fort  Niagara  stands  is  diminishing, 
from  the  depredations  of  the  lake  "  and  speaking  of  the  proposed 
fort  said,  "it  will  be  about  1600  yards  distant  from  the  Fort  at 
Niagara,  which,  though  within  the  distance  of  annoying  an  enemy, 
could  not  prevent  his  carrying  on  operations  against  the  Fort."1 
Thus  we  see  that  Fort  George,  which  was  built  at  a  time  when 
England  never  expected  to  be  obliged  to  surrender  Fort  Niagara,  was 
originally  designed,  not  as  an  opposition  to,  but  as  a  defense  for  that 
fort. 

In  1791,  Patrick  Campbell  was  here  and  wrote,  "It  is  a  pretty 
strong  stockade  fort  with  regular  bastions,  palisades,  pickets  and  dry 
ditches,  sufficient  against  the  attack  of  any  irregular  army."  2 

By  the  act  of  1791,  Upper  Canada  was  formed  into  a  separate 
government  and  Col.  J.  Graves  Simcoe  was  made  its  first  Governor. 

1  Read's  Life  and  Times  of  Gen.  Simcoe,  page  154.  2  Travels  in  North  America,  1793, 
page  169. 


60  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

He  selected  the  village  opposite  Fort  Niagara  as  the  capital  of  the  prov- 
ince. It  had  been  called  West  Niagara,  as  distinguished  from  the 
British-controlled  fort  on  the  East,  Loyal  Village,  Newark  and 
Butlersburg. 

On  British  soil,  yet  a  border  town,  his  selection  of  the  site  was 
much  criticized.  But  Fort  Niagara  controlled  it,  the  British  con- 
trolled Fort  Niagara,  and  he  wanted  to  be  near  that  famous  fort, 
and  he  then  expected  England  would  always  retain  it.1 

Here  on  September  17,  1792,  he  convened  the  first  Parliament  of 
Upper  Canada.  It  has  been  claimed,  yet  not  substantiated,  that  this 
body  met  in  the  fort  itself. 

However,  the  garrison  took  part  in  the  ceremonies,  a  guard  of 
fifty  men  from  the  Twenty-sixth  Cameronians  from  the  fort  formed 
part  of  the  military  escort,  and  the  guns  of  the  fort  fired  a  salute  at 
the  hour  of  assembling. 

The  fort  was  under  the  Governor's  control  and  his  guard  of  four 
men  at  Navy  Hall  was  drawn  each  day  from  Fort  Niagara's  garrison.2 
He  had  the  garrison  also  as  his  guard  on  all  occasions.  From  the 
fort  was  fired  a  royal  salute  in  honor  of  his  Majesty's  birthday,  June 
4,  1793,  and  no  doubt  on  other  similar  occasions,  and  it  was  as  much 
a  British  fort  during  this  period  as  if  it  had  stood  on  British  soil.  In 
1792  the  York,  the  first  Canadian  Merchant  vessel  3  on  Lake  Ontario 
was  built  just  east  of  Fort  Niagara. 

In  1793,  Gen.  Lincoln,  Col.  Pinckney  and  W.  Randolph,  United 
States  Commissioners,  arrived  at  the  fort  on  their  way  to  a  great 
council  with  the  Western  Indians,  and  were  handsomely  entertained, 
both  at  the  fort  and  on  the  Canadian  side,  by  Gov.  Simcoe. 

In  1794,  the  fort  was  strengthened  by  the  erection  of  some  new 
works,  "  especially  covered  batteries,  designed  for  its  protection  on 
the  side  of  the  lake  and  river."  4 

Eleven  years  had  now  passed  since  the  Revolution  closed,  and 
England  yet  held  the  five  American  forts.  This  caused  much  dis- 
satisfaction. Yet  the  United  States  neither  wanted  to,  nor  could  they, 
afford  to,  risk  another  war  with  the  British  over  their  occupation. 

So,  in  Jay's  Commercial  Treaty  of  1794,  Article  2,  provided,  that 
the  British  garrisons  in  all  the  forts  assigned  to  the  United  States  by 
the  Treaty  of  Peace  of  1783,  should  be  withdrawn  by  June  i,  1796. 

1  Rochefoucault's  Travels,  1799  ;  vol.  I.,  page  229  -  Rochefoucault's  Travels,  1799  ;  vol. 
I. ,  page  241.  3  Read's  Life  and  Times  of  Gov.  Simcoe,  page  271 .  4  Rochefoucault's  Travels, 
1799,  vol.  I.,  page  257. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  61 

This  was  a  better  way  at  that  time  of  gaining  our  rights  than  by 
war,  especially  as  the  United  States  were  not  free  from  blame  in  car- 
rying out  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  1783. 

In  1795  the  Duke  de  Liancourt  visited  this  section,  and  the  Gover- 
nor entertained  him  on  the  Canada  side ;  also  dining  him  at  the  fort, 
which  he  told  him  "  he  was  very  loath  to  visit,  since  he  is  sure  that  he 
shall  be  obliged  to  deliver  it  up  to  the  Americans." ' 

The  garrison  consisted  then  of  thirty  artillery  men  and  eight  com- 
panies of  the  Fifth  Regiment.  All  the  breastworks,  slopes,  etc., 
were  lined  with  timber.  On  the  land  side  it  had  a  curtain  flanked 
by  two  bastions,  in  each  of  which  a  block  house  has  been  construc- 
ted, mounted  with  cannon."  The  Duke  adds  :  "  Although  this  fort, 
in  common  with  all  such  small  fortified  places,  cannot  long  with- 
stand a  regular  attack,  yet  the  besiegers  cannot  take  it  without  a 
considerable  loss."  " 

In  1796,  in  anticipation  of  their  total  withdrawal  from  American 
soil,  the  British  transferred  their  patronage  over  the  portage  to  a 
similar  road  built  for  that  purpose  on  the  Canadian  side,  between 
Queenston  and  Chippawa. 

Work  was  also  commenced  in  that  year,  and  rapidly  pushed,  on 
a  new  block-house  located  up  stream  diagonally  opposite  Fort  Ni- 
agara, on  the  Canada  side,  on  land  that  commanded  Fort  Niagara, 
being  nine  feet  higher  than  the  roof  of  the  Castle  in  that  fort. 

This  block-house  was  designed  to  receive  the  British  garrison 
from  Fort  Niagara3  and  Fort  George,  an  earth  fort,  was  built4 
around  it  at  once. 

In  less  than  seventeen  years  Fort  George  was  destined  to  ex- 
change an  extensive  cannonade  with  Fort  Niagara  in  the  War  of 
1812. 

During  all  this  "  hold-over  period  "  the  British  officers  at  Fort 
Niagara  exercised  a  certain  sort  of  civil  jurisdiction  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. From  the  capture  of  the  fort  in  1759  the  seat  of  civil  jurisdic- 
tion of  all  this  territory  was  at  the  fort;  and  after  the  evacuation, 
there  being  no  Federal  Courts  here,  the  British  officers,  of  necessity, 
continued  to  exercise  this  jurisdiction,  and  they  exercised  it  wisely. 

At  last  June  I,  1796,  the  day  set  by  treaty  for  the  evacuation 
arrived,  but  none  of  the  five  forts  were  evacuated.  Why?  Because 

1  Rochefoucault's  Travels,  1799,  vol.  I.,  page  257.  *  Rochefoucault's  Travels,  1799,  vo'« 
I.,  page  257.  3  Weld's  Travels,  1799,  Page  306'  4  Read's  Life  and  Times  of  Gov.  Simcoe, 
page  268. 


62  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

the  United  States  were  not  ready  to  occupy  them,  not  even  Fort 
Niagara,  the  most  important  of  the  five. 

So  badly  indeed  had  the  United  States'  army  been  supplied  with 
provisions  that,  when  notice  was  sent  to  the  Federal  general  by  the 
British  officers  that  they  had  received  orders  to  deliver  up  their 
respective  posts  pursuant  to  the  treaty,  and  that  they  were  prepared 
to  do  so  whenever  he  was  ready  to  take  possession  of  them,  an 
answer  was  returned  that  unless  the  British  officers  could  supply  his 
army  with  a  considerable  quantity  of  provisions  on  arriving  at  the 
lakes,  he  could  not  attempt  to  march  for  many  weeks.1 

A  British  statement,  but  in  general  substantiated  by  fact. 

The  United  States  Government  had  sent  no  soldiers  to  garrison 
these  forts  and  had  sent  no  provisions  for  a  garrison.  Hence  the 
delay  was  really  at  their  wish.2 

THE    EVACUATION. 

On  August  i  ith,  the  order  having  been  duly  presented,  the  British 
evacuated  Fort  Niagara  and  transferred  the  garrison  consisting  of 
fifty  men,  guns,  ammunition,  stores,  etc  ,  across  the  river.  As  the 
banner  of  St.  George  came  down  from  the  flag  pole  at  Fort  Niagara 
on  that  day,  the  British  emblem  floated  over  but  one  spot  on  Ameri- 
can soil,  Millimachinac,  which  was  not  surrendered  up  to  the  United 
States  until  the  following  October. 

So  Niagara  was  the  next  to  the  last  post  evacuated  in  America. 

Gov.  Simcoe  had  arranged  to  remove  the  capital  of  Upper 
Canada  to  York,  now  Toronto,  and  it  was  so  removed  in  1796. 

ISAAC  WELD'S  VIEWS. 

Soon  after  the  evacuation  in  September,  1796,  an  English  traveler 
of  note,  Isaac  Weld,  Jr.,  visited  Fort  Niagara,  and  wrote : 

"  Toward  the  water  it  is  stockaded,  and  behind  the  stockade,  on  the  river  side,  a 
large  mound  of  earth  rises  up,  at  the  top  of  which  are  embrasures  for  guns.  On  the 
land  side  it  is  secured  by  several  batteries  and  redoubts,  and  by  parallel  lines  of 
fascines  at  the  gates  and  in  various  parts  there  are  strong  block-houses,  and  facing 
the  lake  within  the  stockade  stands  a  fortified  stone  house.  The  fort  and  outworks 
occupy  about  five  acres  of  ground  and  a  garrison  of  500  men,  and  at  least  from  30  to 
60  pieces  of  ordnance  would  be  necessary  to  defend  it  properly.  The  federal  garrison 
consists,  however,  of  only  50  men,  and  the  whole  cannon  in  the  place  amounts 
merely  to  four  small  field  pieces,  planted  at  the  four  corners  of  the  fort.  .  .  . 

1  Weld's  Travels,  page  302.     2  Howard  L.  Osgood,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  63 

Great  additions  were  made  to  the  works  after  the  fort  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British 
(1759).  .  .  .  Every  part  of  the  fort  now  exhibits  a  picture  of  slovenliness  and 
neglect,  and  the  appearance  of  the  soldiers  is  equally  devoid  of  neatness  with  that  of 
their  quarters." ' 

Later  he  adds : 

"  The  chief  strength  of  the  old  fort  is  on  the  land  side.  Towards  the  water  the 
works  are  very  weak,  and  the  whole  might  be  battered  down  by  a  single  12-pounder 
judiciously  planted  on  the  British  side  of  the  river."  * 

Referring  to  the  "  hold-over  period,"  he  says  : 

"  The  American  prints,  until  the  late  treaty  of  amity  was  ratified,  teemed  with  the 
most  gross  abuse  of  the  British  Government,  for  retaining  possession  of  Fort  Niagara 
and  the  other  military  posts  on  the  lakes.  After  the  independence  of  the  States  had 
been  acknowledged  and  peace  concluded,  it  was  never  taken  into  consideration  that 
if  the  British  Government  had  thought  proper  to  have  withdrawn  its  troops  from  the 
posts  at  once  immediately  after  the  definite  treaty  was  signed,  the  works  would,  in 
all  probability  have  been  destroyed  by  the  Indians,  within  whose  territories  they  were 
situated,  long  before  the  people  of  the  States  could  have  taken  possession  of  them, 
for  no  part  of  their  army  was  within  hundreds  of  miles  of  the  posts,  and  the  country 
through  which  they  must  have  passed  in  getting  to  them  was  a  mere  wilderness ;  but  if 
the  army  had  gained  the  posts  the  States  were  in  no  condition  immediately  after  the 
war  to  have  kept  in  them  such  large  bodies  of  the  military  as  would  have  been  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  their  defense  whilst  at  enmity  with  the  Indians,  and  it  is  by  no 
means  improbable  but  that  the  posts  might  have  been  soon  abandoned.  The  reten- 
tion of  them  therefore  to  the  present  day  was  in  fact  a  circumstance  highly  beneficial  to 
the  interests  of  the  States,  notwithstanding  that  such  an  outcry  was  raised  against  the 
British  on  that  account,  inasmuch  as  the  Americans  now  find  themselves  possessed  of 
extensive  fortifications  on  the  frontiers  in  perfect  repairs,  without  having  been  at  the 
expense  of  building  them  or  maintaining  troops  in  them  for  the  space  of  10  years." 3 

This  was  also  a  British  view  but  there  was  a  great  deal  of  justice  in  it. 

On  the  evacuation  of  the  fort  the  American  public  papers  paid 
some  nice  compliments  to  the  English  officers  for  their  friendly  atten- 
tions, their  extensive  gardens  being  left  in  full  bearing.4  A  plan  of 
Fort  Niagara  made  in  1801  shows  these  gardens  extending  along  the 
lake  front  east  of  the  earthworks,  so  that  they  then  covered  that  part 
of  the  ground  where  the  English  dug  their  parallels  and  planted  their 
batteries  during  the  siege  of  1759,  which  had  not  been  washed 
away  by  the  encroachments  and  the  storms  of  Lake  Ontario.  The 
comparatively  small  matter  of  leaving  the  iron  shutters  on  the  win- 
dows of  the  castle  was  overlooked,  and  these  were  all  taken  down  and 
carried  to  the  new  British  blockhouse.5 

1  Weld's  Travels,  1799,  pages  300  and  301.  3  Weld's  Travels,  1799,  page  306.  !  Weld's 
Travels,  1799,  pages  302  and  303.  4  Weld's  Travels,  1799,  pages  302  and  303.  5  Life  of 
DeWitt  Clinton,  1849,  page  124. 


64  OLD    FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

The  British,  however,  generously  left  fifty  barrels  of  pork  for  the 
use  of  the  new  Federal  garrison.1 

The  British  commandant  at  the  evacuation  was  Col.  Smith,  who 
led  the  British  in  the  fight  at  Concord  in  1775.  It  has  been  said  "Col. 
Smith  may  with  propriety  be  said  to  have  participated  in  both  the 
opening  and  the  closing  acLs  of  the  American  Revolution."  3 

1796-1812. 

The  advantages  which  the  Americans,  particularly  those  in  any 
way  interested  in  the  carrying  trade  between  the  east  and  west, 
expected  to  derive  from  United  States  control  of  Fort  Niagara 
were  overestimated. 

Soon  after  the  evacuation,  in  September,  1796,  Captain  Bruff, 
the  commandant  at  Fort  Niagara,  called  an  assemblage  of  the 
sachems  and  warriors  of  the  six  nations  at  that  place,  to  exchange 
sentiments  of  peace,  friendship,  and  mutual  aid. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolution  (the  "  whirlwind  "  as  they  called 
it)  these  warriors  finding  they  were  left  by  the  British  under  the 
control  of  the  United  States  naturally  felt  alarmed  as  to  what 
treatment  they  might  expect,  as  they  had  been  hostile  to  the 
colonists  —  the  Thirteen  Flames  as  they  called  them. 

Finding  that  the  conquerors  were  ready  to  overlook  the  past  and  to 
treat  them  with  justice,  they  buried  the  tomahawk  and  became  good 
friends  and  peaceable  neighbors  of  the  Americans. 

So  when  the  British  finally  evacuated  Fort  Niagara,  which  had 
been  the  great  headquarters  of  England's  influence  so  far  as  the  Six 
Nations  were  concerned,  it  was  fitting  that  at  that  spot  the  chain 
of  friendship  between  these  savage  warriors  and  the  United  States 
should  be  brightened  and  vows  of  continued  friendship  interchanged. 

Among  the  gifts  bestowed  on  this  assemblage,  besides  provis- 
ions, clothing  and  a  barrel  of  rum,  was  a  large  United  States  flag. 3 

From  1796  to  1812  there  is  but  little  public  history  in  connec- 
tion with  the  fort. 

In  1799,  the  United  States  Customs  District  of  Niagara  was  cre- 
ated by  act  of  Congress.  It  included  the  American  shores  and 
waters  of  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  west  of  the  Genesee  River,  and 
of  the  Niagara  River. 

1  Weld's  Travels,  1799,  page  302.  9  Lossing  History  of  War  of  1812,  page  408. 
3  Tomer's  Holland  Purchase,  page  347. 


OLD   FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  65 

Fort  Niagara  was  the  port  of  entry,  and  remained  so  till  1811, 
when  the  port  was  removed  to  Lewiston. 

In  1799,  in  anticipation  of  another  Indian  outbreak,  the  garrison 
was  reinforced. 

In  May,  1801,  General  Wilkinson,  who  was  in  command  on  the 
frontier,  was  directed  to  open  a  military  road  between  Lake  Ontario 
and  Lake  Erie,  and,  at  his  direction,  Major  Porter,  commandant  at 
Fort  Niagara,  commenced  operations.  The  road  was  not  completed 
promptly,  for  in  1802  the  United  States  mail  was  still  carried  from 
Utica  to  Fort  Niagara  via  Buffalo  and  the  Canadian  side  of  the 
river. 

In  1804,  Tom  Moore  spent  some  time  with  General  Brock  at 
Fort  George,  and  doubtless  visited  Fort  Niagara. 

In  1805,  it  became  necessary  to  clear  out  an  old  sink  attached 
to  the  mess  house.  In  it  were  found  the  bones  of  a  woman,  no 
doubt  the  victim  of  a  murder  in  days  gone  by. 

In  1806,  George  Heriot,  Deputy  Postmaster-General  of  British 
North  America,  visited  the  fort,  of  which  he  wrote  :  "The  ramparts 
are  composed  of  earth  and  pickets,  and  contain  within  them  a  lofty 
stone  building.  The  Americans  seem  to  take  no  measures  either  for 
its  repair  or  enlargement,  as  the  waters  of  the  lake  make  progressive 
encroachments  on  the  sandy  bank,  whose  summit  it  occupies,  the 
foundations  of  the  buildings  will  in  a  short  time  be  undermined."  * 

In  1810,  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  State  of  New  York 
to  explore  the  whole  route  of  the  projected  Erie  and  connecting  canals 
made  a  digression  on  their  journey  to  visit  Fort  Niagara. 

In  De  Witt  Clinton's  journal  of  the  trip  he  says,  "We  were  received 
with  a  national  salute  and  other  military  honors."  Dinner  was  served 
in  the  castle,  which,  he  said,  measured  105x47  feet,  and  was  a  complete 
fortification,  with  prisons,  a  well  and  only  one  door.  The  fort  was  in 
a  ruinous  condition,  the  only  pleasant  thing  to  the  feelings  of  an 
American  being  the  new  barracks  then  in  course  of  construction.11 

Among  the  troops  at  the  fort  during  this  period  was  one  Carroll, 
the  band  leader,  said  to  be  a  relative  of  the  famous  Irish  harper  of 
that  name,  and  devoted  to  music  and  whiskey.  One  evening  he  ap- 
peared on  parade  drunk,  and,  when  reprimanded  by  the  commandant, 
became  so  abusive  that  he  was  confined  in  the  "black  hole"  in  the 
castle.  Here,  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  in  answer  to  his  yells,  he 
1  Heriot's  Travels,  pages  149  and  150.  *  Life  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  1849.  page  124 


66  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

was  found  in  a  piteous  condition  of  fright,  declaring  all  the  hob- 
goblins and  devils  in  existence  had  visited  him,  and  begged  for 
a  light,  a  fife,  and  pen,  ink  and  paper,  which  were  granted  him.  In 
the  morning  he  presented  to  the  other  musicians  the  notes  of  a  tune 
he  had  composed  in  the  dungeon,  and  which  he  called  "Carroll's 
Thoughts  on  Eternity."  He  composed  at  the  fort  several  marches 
and  waltzes,  etc.,  which  delighted  the  garrison  and  guests  on  many 
occasions. 

From  1796  till  the  war  of  1812  there  was  a  constant  interchange 
of  civilities  between  the  garrison  of  the  Fort  Niagara  and  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  Canadian  village  opposite,  including  the  garrison  of  Fort 
George.  Many  ties  of  friendship  and,  no  doubt,  of  relationship,  were 
severed  hereabouts  by  that  war. 

When  it  commenced,  there  was  a  yard  on  the  north  side  of 
the  castle,  between  it  and  the  pickets,  some  forty  feet  wide,  and 
beyond  the  pickets  a  space  wide  enough  for  two  people  to  walk  on 
abreast.1 

The  fort  was  then  surrounded  on  three  sides  with  strong  pickets 
of  plank,  firmly  planted  in  the  ground  and  closely  joined  together,  a 
heavy  gate  in  front  of  double  plank,  closely  studded  with  iron  spike. 
This  was  enclosed  by  a  fence,  with  a  large  gate  just  on  the  brow  of 
the  hill,  called  the  Barrier  Gate.2  The  fourth  side  was  defended  by 
embankments  of  earth,  under  which  had  formerly  been  barracks. 
These  had  been  safe,  but  gloomy,  and  had  been  abandoned,  and  the 
entrances  closed  before  this  date ;  as  they  had  become  infested  with 
rattlesnakes.  So  numerous  had  these  vipers  become  in  this  breeding 
place,  that  the  soldiers  not  only  did  not  dare  to  enter  these  barracks, 
but  it  was  impossible  to  cross  the  parade  ground  without  meeting 
them. 

WAR  OF   1812. 

The  official  declaration  of  the  war,  made  June  i8th,  reached  Fort 
Niagara  June  26th,  a  day  after  the  news  had  reached  the  Canadian 
Frontier  by  private  messengers  sent  to  his  agents  hereabouts  by  John 
Jacob  Astor,  who  had  vast  commercial  interests^  stake. 

According  to  the  commandant's  private  admission,  the  fortifications 
were  out  of  repair,  there  was  scarcely  any  arms  or  ammunition,  and 
only  one  company  of  soldiers  in  the  fort,  showing  great  negligence  on 
the  part  of  the  War  department. 

1  Turner,  Holland  Purchase,  page  191.     -  Turner,  Holland  Purchase,  page  iSS. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  67 

Work  was  immediately  commenced  to  repair  the  picket  and  earth 
fortifications,  and  the  well  in  the  mess  house  was  uncovered  and 
cleaned  out. 

A  heavy  cannon  was  drawn  into  the  porch  of  the  castle,  new 
embankments  were  thrown  up  and  cannon  mounted;  company  after 
company  of  militia  soon  came  pouring  in  from  the  east  and  south, 
raw  and  undisciplined  recruits,  gay  with  any  and  every  sort  of  uniform 
and  armed  with  any  available  weapon. 

To  make  room  for  these  welcome  defenders,  the  officers'  families 
were  obliged  to  vacate  their  quarters  in  the  fort  and  were  sent  away 
into  the  country.  ' 

Soon  there  appeared  at  the  fort  about  a  hundred  young  power- 
ful and  active  Tuscarora  Indians,  from  their  Reservation  near  by, 
decorated  with  war  paint  and  armed  with  tomahawks  and  hatchets. 
Headed  by  the  chief,  they  had  hurried  down  to  offer  their  assist- 
ance to  the  United  States.  At  this  their  first  opportunity  they 
promptly  proved  their  appreciation  of  the  fair  treatment  that  the 
newly  organized  Federal  government  had  extended  to  their  race  at 
the  close  of  the  Revolution. 

Between  the  declaration  of  war  and  the  battle  of  Queenston 
regulars  and  ammunition  and  ordnance  were  sent  to  Fort  Niagara. 

On  August  13,  1812,  Gen.  Van  Renssalaer,  who  had  been 
appointed  to  the  command  of  the  New  York  militia,  arrived  at 
Fort  Niagara,  but  at  once  proceeded  to  and  pitched  his  camp  near 
Lewiston. 

It  was  believed  that  Gen.  Brock,  then  in  command  of  the  British 
troops  along  the  frontier,  contemplated  an  attack  on  Fort  Niagara 
and  an  invasion  of  the  United  States,  and  Gen.  Van  Renssalaer 
begged  for  more  troops.  At  this  time  there  were  300  light  artillery 
and  1000  infantry  of  the  United  States  army  at  Fort  Niagara. 

When  Gen.  Brock  returned  to  Fort  George  after  the  capture 
of  Detroit,  many  of  the  American  prisoners  taken  there,  accom- 
panied by  women  and  children,  were  brought  to  that  fort.  In 
September  Gen.  Van  Renssalaer  wrote  to  Gen.  Brock  relative  to 
their  condition,  to  the  end  that  they  might  be  relieved  from  Fort 
Niagara,  and  offering  to  receive  the  women  and  children  at  that 
fort,  and  by  order  of  Gen.  Brock  these  women  and  children  were 
landed  at  Fort  Niagara.2 

1  Turner's  Holland  Purchase,  page  190.     -  Tupper's  Life  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  1845,  page  297. 


68 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 


Responding  to  Gen.  Dearborn's  insistance  that  Upper  Canada 
should  be  conquered  before  winter,  Gen.  Van  Renssalaer  planned 
the  capture  of  Oueenston  Heights,  opposite  Lewiston,  and  prepara- 
tions were  made  for  the  attack  on  October  I3th.  The  flying  artillery 


THE    SOUTHWEST    BLOCK    HOUSE. 

under  Lieut.-Col.  Fenwick,  as  well  as  most  of  the  garrison  at  Fort 
Niagara,  were  sent  to  Lewiston.  It  is  not  necessary  to  our  subject  to 
discuss  the  details  of  this  battle. 

Gen.  Brock  was  at  Fort  George  expecting  an  attack,  but  under 
the  belief  that  it  would  be  made  from  Fort  Niagara.  Hearing  the 
cannonading  he  hastened  to  Queenston,  only  to  see  the  heights  carried 
by  the  Americans  under  Lieut.  Wool.  He  at  once  sent  word  to  Fort 
George  for  reinforcements  and  also  an  order  for  an  immediate  bom- 
bardment of  Fort  Niagara. 

His  instructions  were  obeyed  and  Fort  Niagara  was  .again  under  fire. 
The  south  block-house  in  this  fort  promptly  replied  and  occasionally 
turned  its  guns  on  the  Canadian  village  of  Newark,  where,  by  reason  of 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA  IN  HISTORY. 


69 


the  hot  shot  used  (for  there  was  a  furnace  in  Fort  Niagara  specially 
built  for  heating  cannon  balls),  many  of  the  buildings  were  set  on  fire. 
The  cannonading  lasted  for  several  hours ;  shells  also  were  thrown 
from  Fort  George,  and  from  these  the  men  in  Fort  Niagara  had  no 
protection.  This  fact,  and  the  bursting  of  a  cannon  decided  Capt. 
Leonard,  who  was  in  command,  to  abandon  Fort  Niagara,  and  with  the 
small  garrison  of  about  twenty  men  he  started  for  Lewiston,  leaving 
the  fort  empty.  He  had  proceeded  but  a  short  distance  when  he 
saw  the  British  putting  off  in  boats  from  near  Fort  George  to  occupy 
it.  Reconsidering  his  action,  he  hurried  his  men  back  into  it  and 


THE    NORTHEAST    BLOCK    HOUSE. 

held  it  unmolested  till  the  regulars    returned    very    early    the    next 
morning  from  Queenston. 

In  rallying  his  forces  to  recapture  Queenston  Heights  Gen. 
Brock  was  killed.  Had  he  learnt  that  Fort  Niagara  was  poorly 
garrisoned  he  was  too  good  a  soldier  not  to  have  ordered  its  attack, 
and  why  Major  Evans,  who  was  in  command  of  Fort  George,  plainly 


70  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

seeing  the  small  number  of  men  in  the  garrison,  and  Leonard's 
cowardice,  as  evinced  by  his  retreat,  did  not  promptly  storm  it,  for 
it  would  have  been  captured  with  ease,  is  unexplained. 

After  the  battle  of  Queenston,  many  of  the  wounded  Americans 
were  conveyed  to  Fort  Niagara  and  lodged  in  any  available  place, 
even  the  cellars  of  the  castle  being  converted  into  a  hospital. 

The  British  army  after  its  success  at  Queenston  marched  back 
to  Fort  George  —  at  once  a  column  of  victory  and  a  funeral  train,  for 
it  carried  the  body  of  its  late  commander. 

Gen.  Brock  was  buried  in  a  cavalier  bastion  at  Fort  George  on 
October  i6th.  Col.  Scott,  who  had  been  captured  at  Queenston, 
was  then  a  prisoner  at  Newark,  and  at  his  suggestion,  Gen.  Van 
Renssalaer  issued  orders  that  immediately  after  the  funeral  was 
over  minute  guns  should  be  fired  from  Fort  Niagara,  "as  a  mark  of 
respect  due  to  a  brave  enemy."  1 

Early  in  the  morning  of  November  2ist  hostilities  were  renewed. 
The  British  had  prepared  mortars  and  planted  a  long  train  of  battering 
cannon  behind  breast-works  on  the  margin  of  the  river,  under  Fort 
George.  Five  of  these  batteries  and  the  guns  of  Fort  George  bom- 
barded Fort  Niagara  from  sunrise  to  sunset. 

The  garrison  of  that  fort  had  been  reinforced  after  the  I3th  of 
October  by  the  I3th  Regiment  of  U.  S.  troops,  but  was  not  yet  sup- 
plied with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  artillery  or  ammunition.  Col. 
George  McFeeley  was  in  command.  During  November  2ist,  2,000 
cannon  balls  and  180  shells  were  discharged  against  Fort  Niagara. 

The  shells  did  little  harm,  but  many  of  the  cannon  balls,  having 
been  heated,  set  fire  to  several  buildings  in  and  about  the  fort.  Thanks 
to  the  ceaseless  efforts  of  the  garrison,  none  of  the  buildings  were 
burnt.  Fort  Niagara  returned  the  fire  of  the  British  with  alacrity  and 
vigor.  A  six-pounder  had  been  mounted  on  top  of  the  mess  house,  a 
twelve-pounder  on  the  southwest  block-house,  other  cannon  on  the 
north  block-house.  There  was  an  eighteen-pounder  in  the  south- 
east battery,  and  an  eighteen  and  also  a  four-pounder  on  the  west 
battery.  The  Salt  Battery,  a  dependency  in  the  present  village  of 
Youngstown,  mounting  an  eighteen  and  a  four-pounder,  also  did 
effective  work,  and,  when  their  gun  wadding  gave  out  during  the  worst 
of  the  bombardment,  the  officers  and  men  tore  up  their  flannel  waist 
coats,  shirts  and  trousers  to  supply  their  guns.  Several  houses  in 
1  Tapper's  Life  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  1845,  page  333. 


OLD   FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  71 

Newark  were  set  on  fire  by  hot  shot  during  this  bombardment,  but 
were  saved.  The  mess  house  at  Fort  George  and  some  buildings  near 
it,  however,  were  set  on  fire  by  hot  shot  and  were  burned. 

An  instance  of  female  bravery  at  Fort  Niagara  on  this  day  must 
also  be  chronicled.  A  private  in  the  U.  S.  Artillery,  Doyle  by  name, 
who  had  been  stationed  at  the  fort,  was  among  the  prisoners  taken 
at  Queenston.  His  wife  had  remained  in  the  fort  and,  resenting  the 
refusal  of  the  British  to  parole  her  husband,  she  insisted  on  filling  his 
place  and  doing  his  duty  against  the  enemy.  She  accordingly,  during 
the  bombardment,  attended  the  six-pounder  on  the  Mess  house, 
served  it  with  hot  shot,  regardless  of  the  shells  which  were  falling 
around  her,  and  never  quitting  her  post  till  the  last  gun  had  been 
discharged. 

The  bombardment  effected  nothing  of  great  moment  on  either 
side  of  the  river.  Buildings  in  both  forts  were  set  on  fire  and  the 
works  of  both  were  damaged.  American  marksmanship  silenced  one 
of  the  Canadian  batteries  for  a  time.  The  loss  of  life,  fortunately, 
was  small  on  both  sides,  two  being  killed  and  seven  wounded  on  the 
American  side,  and  more  on  the  British  side.1 

During  the  winter  of  1812-13  there  were  no  events  of  note  at  the 
fort.  It  was  fully  garrisoned,  for  it  was  by  no  means  improbable  that 
the  British  might,  at  any  time,  attempt  its  capture,  and  more  than  one 
of  the  officers  at  Fort  George  across  the  river  formed  plans  for  its 
assault,  each  hoping  thereby  to  win  for  himself  military  fame ;  but 
none  of  these  plans  were  ever  attempted.  Early  in  1813,  Col.  Scott, 
wbo  was  among  the  prisoners  exchanged,  arrived  at  Fort  Niagara. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  the  Mohawk  Indians  had  sided 
with  the  British,  but  the  Senecas,  located  near  Buffalo,  had  promised 
not  to  engage  in  the  war,  unless  on  the  side  of  the  United  States. 

When  the  British  took  possession  of  Grand  Island,  which  the 
Senecas  claimed  as  their  territory,  which  claim  the  State  of  New 
York  had  recognized,  the  young  Seneca  braves  could  no  longer  be 
restrained,  and  they  made  a  declaration  of  war  in  writing,  said  to  be 
the  first  instance  of  its  kind  in  Indian  history.  The  United  States 
had  been  reluctant  to  employ  savages,  but  the  action  of  the  British 
in  securing  the  aid  of  the  Mohawks,  caused  Gen.  Lewis,  who  com- 
manded Fort  Niagara  in  1813,  to  invite  the  Senecas  to  the  fort  and  to 
seek  their  aid. 

1  Official  Report  of  Col.  McFeeley's  The  War,  page  109. 


72  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY. 

Three  or  four  hundred  Senecas  in  their  war  paint  came,  but  on 
learning  that  they  were  expected  to  exert  rather  a  moral  influence 
than  to  use  the  tomahawk  they  went  away  in  disgust. 

Their  friendly  attitude,  and  later  on  their  active  service  along  the 
frontier,  however,  were  of  great  benefit  to  the  Americans. 

On  April  2/th  the  Americans  captured  Little  York  (Toronto),  and 
the  tremendous  explosion  of  the  powder  magazine  there  was  plainly 
heard  at  Fort  Niagara. 

On  May  8th  Commodore  Chauncey's  fleet  brought  Gen.  Dearborn 
and  his  victorious  army  from  York  to  Four-mile  Creek,  east  of  Fort 
Niagara,  where  they  landed.  As  many  as  possible  were  quartered 
in  Fort  Niagara  —  every  available  room  being  occupied  and  the 
parade  ground  being  covered  with  their  tents.  The  balance 
encamped  at  Four-mile  Creek.  All  of  the  wounded  were  also 
brought  over  and  cared  for  at  the  camp  or  in  houses  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. 

CAPTURE  OF  FORT  GEORGE. 

Gen.  Dearborn  established  his  headquarters  in  Fort  Niagara,  Col. 
Scott  being  his  adjutant ;  and  plans  were  at  once  made  to  capture 
Fort  George.  Being  confined  to  his  bed  by  sickness,  Gen.  Dearborn's 
orders  were  issued  from  his  sick  room. 

On  May  26th,  a  number  of  boats  which  the  Americans  had  built 
at  the  "  meadows,"  five  miles  up  stream  from  Fort  Niagara,  were 
launched.  The  British  battery  opposite  opened  fire  on  them,  and 
as  they  came  down  stream  the  batteries  and  Fort  George  cannonaded 
them.  Fort  Niagara,  its  batteries  and  dependencies  replied  vigorousl)7. 

When  night  came  the  boats  were  safely  taken  past  Fort  George, 
and  around  Fort  Niagara  to  the  lake  shore,  to  Four-mile  Creek. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  May  2/th  the  troops  were  embarked 
from  the  fort  and  the  camp  on  the  vessels  and  boats,  and  at  once 
proceeded  to  the  attack. 

The  guns  of  Fort  Niagara  and  its  batteries  were  turned  on  Fort 
George.  The  warships  took  their  assigned  positions,  some  to  bom- 
bard Fort  George  and  its  batteries,  some  to  silence  the  batteries  on 
the  lake  near  where  the  troops  were  to  land. 

Amidst  a  terrific  bombardment,  the  men  led  by  Col.  Scott,  landed, 
drove  back  the  British,  captured  Fort  George,  and  by  noon  were  in 
quiet  possession  of  every  battery  on  the  river,  the  British  fleeing  with 
precipitation. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  73 

A  storm  coming  up,  the  fleet  sailed  up  the  river  and  anchored 
nearly  opposite  Fort  George. 

From  May  2/th  till  December,  1813,  Fort  George  was  in  the 
possession  of  the  Americans,  and  the  headquarters  of  the  Army  of 
the  Center  was  here,  and  thus  on  British  soil.  General  Dearborn, 
General  Wilkinson,  Colonel  Scott,  General  Harrison  and  General 
McClure  of  the  New  York  Militia  were  successively  in  command, 
and  were  frequently  at  Fort  Niagara. 

FORT   GEORGE   ABANDONED. 

On  December  zoth,  word  came  to  Fort  George  that  1,500  British 
regulars  and  700  Indians  were  advancing  toward  it,  with  a  view  to 
its  capture  and  the  expulsion  of  the  Americans  from  Canadian 
soil  hereabouts. 

McClure's  garrison  was  not  a  large  one  ;  only  sixty  effective  men. 
He  was  not  a  man  of  courage.  He  decided  to  abandon  Fort  George 
and  to  concentrate  all  his  troops  in  Fort  Niagara. 

For  about  two  months  he  had  had  in  his  possession  the  follow- 
ing, sent  from  Sackett's  Harbor: 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  October  4,  1813. 

Sir, — Understanding  that  the  defense  of  the  post  committed  to 
your  charge  may  render  it  proper  to  destroy  the  town  of  Newark, 
you  are  hereby  directed  to  apprise  the  inhabitants  of  this  circum- 
stance, and  invite  them  to  remove  themselves  and  their  effects  to 
some  place  of  greater  safety. 

JOHN  ARMSTRONG. 

Brigadier-General  McCLURE,  or  officer  commanding  at  Fort 
George. 

McClure  had  never  carried  out  this  order.  All  of  a  sudden,  in  the 
middle  of  a  most  rigorous  winter,  he  decided  to  abandon  Fort  George. 
Most  of  the  guns  were  spiked,  and  all  movable  stores  put  on  boats. 
Then,  falling  back  on  this  old  order  from  the  war  department  (which 
had  been  sent  to  him  long  before  winter  set  in,  and  with  the  very  idea 
of  preventing  unnecessary  hardship),  he  gave  notice  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Newark  that  in  a  few  hours  the  town  would  be  burnt.  This  order 
of  his  own  he  carried  out.  The  village  was  set  on  fire  in  several 
places,  and  150  houses  were  consumed.  While  it  was  burning  the 
American  troops  crossed  to  Fort  Niagara. 


74  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

It  was  a  sorry  day  for  that  fort  (and  for  the  frontier)  when  it  be- 
came the  headquarters  of  Gen.  McClure. 

In  such  haste  was  he  to  get  away  from  the  rapidly  advancing 
British  troops,  and  to  get  behind  the  guns  of  Fort  Niagara,  that  he 
did  not  even  try  and  demolish  any  of  the  works  of  Fort  George ;  and 
his  excuse  for  the  burning  of  Newark,  "  that  it  might  not  be  left  as  a 
shelter  for  the  enemy,"  was  nullified  by  the  fact  that  he  left  the 
barracks  on  the  river  bank  intact,  and  serviceable  tents  for  1500  men 
in  Fort  George.'  Several  good  cannons  and  a  quantity  of  shot  were 
also  left  behind. 

When  the  British  took  possession  of  Fort  George  and  the  ruins  of 
Newark  it  was  toward  Fort  Niagara,  behind  whose  walls  McClure,  the 
destroyer  of  Newark,  had  taken  refuge,  that  their  thoughts  at  once 
turned  for  revenge. 

Gen.  McClure,  possibly  appreciating  this,  promptly,  on  Decem- 
ber 1 2th,  moved  his  headquarters  to  Buffalo,  from  whence,  on 
December  i8th,  he  issued  a  proclamation  warning  the  people  of  the 
preparations  of  the  British  to  make  a  descent  on  the  American  side 
of  the  Niagara.2 

But  he  made  no  provision  against  it,  not  even  sending  a  special 
message  to  the  officers  in  Fort  Niagara,  trusting  solely  to  his  general 
order  to  them  of  some  days  before.3 

Capt.  Leonard  had  been  left  in  command  of  that  fort,  and  warned 
that  an  attack  might  be  expected.  It  was  this  same  officer,  I  believe, 
who  a  little  over  a  year  before  had  evacuated  this  same  fort ;  but,  on 
seeing  the  British  starting  to  occupy  it,  had  plucked  up  courage  to 
return  and  hold  it. 

Whether  he  was  a  traitor,  as  was  strongly  suspected,  but  not  con- 
clusively proven,  or  merely  without  courage,  military  ability  and  fore- 
sight, like  too  many  of  the  American  officers  who  held  commissions 
on  this  frontier  during  the  War  of  1812,  his  negligence  was  criminal. 

FORT   NIAGARA   CAPTURED. 

On  their  arrival,  as  they  stood  gazing  on  the  ruins  of  Newark, 
Colonel  Murray  said  to  General  Drummond,  "  Let  us  retaliate  by 
fire  and  sword."  "  Do  so,"  replied  that  commander,  "  swiftly  and 
thoroughly." 

1  British  Official  Report,  Niles  Register,  vol.  V.,  No.  21.     2  McClure's  Proclamation, 
December  18,  1813.     s  McClure's  General  Order,  December  12,  1813. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  75 

So  intense  was  the  feeling  of  the  Britishers  that  preparations  were 
rapidly  made.  On  the  night  of  December  i8th,  a  cold,  dark,  night, 
Colonel  Murray  crossed  the  river  at  the  "  Meadows,"  five  miles  above 
Fort  Niagara,  with  one  thousand  men,  British  and  Indians.  Carrying 
axes,  scaling  ladders  and  other  implements  for  assault,  shielded  by 
the  darkness,  they  pressed  on  to  Fort  Niagara.  The  advance  pickets 
of  the  Americans  were  captured  in  silence,  and  the  force  placed  for  a 
simultaneous  attack  at  several  points  —  five  companies  of  the  icoth 
Regiment  were  to  assail  the  main  gate,  three  companies  of  the  same 
regiment  were  to  storm  the  eastern  semi-bastion,  the  Royal  Scots 
Grenadiers  were  to  assault  the  salient  angle  of  the  works,  and  the 
Forty-first  Regiment  was  to  support  the  principal  attack.1 

These  preparations  were  unnecessary.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing of  Sunday,  December  iQth,  when  the  assailants  reached  the  main 
gate  of  the  fort,  they  found  it  wide  open  and  unguarded.  They  rushed 
in  and  seized  the  sentinels,  who,  in  fright,  gave  up  the  countersign. 
There  were  about  400  men  in  the  garrison,  some  of  them  in  the  hos- 
pital ;  but  enough,  had  the  fort  been  properly  patrolled  and  the  most 
ordinary  precautions  been  taken  against  a  sudden  attack,  to  have  de- 
fended it.  But  the  evening  before,  Leonard,  their  commander,  without 
notice  to  his  officers  or  instructions  to  them,  had  quietly  slipped  away 
to  his  home,  which  was  at  the  meadows,  where  the  assailants  landed. 

The  occupants  of  the  southwest  block-house  and  the  invalids  in 
the  red  barracks  jumped  from  their  beds  on  hearing  the  noise,  and  made 
a  determined  stand,  killing  half  a  dozen,  and  wounding  more,  of  the 
assailing  party. 

This  resistance  was  overcome,  and  the  fort  was  in  possession  of  the 
British  before  the  rest  of  the  garrison  were  fully  awake.  Few  shots 
were  fired ;  the  bayonet  was  the  weapon2  and  revenge  the  watchword. 
Little  if  any  attempt  was  made  to  curb  the  British  soldiers'  thirst 
for  blood,  and  many  of  the  garrison,  especially  hospital  patients,  were 
bayoneted  after  all  resistance  had  ceased. 

The  loss  of  the  Americans  was  80  killed,  14  wounded  (these  figures 
tell  the  story  of  British  revenge),  and  244  made  prisoners;  and  only 
about  20  escaped. 

Col.  Murray  was  wounded  early  in  the  attack,  and  resigned  the 
command  to  Col.  Hamilton,  "under  whose  superintendence,  it  is  stated, 

1  Lossing's  History  of  War  of  1812,  page  633,  he  quotes  Colonel  Murray's  official  report. 
2  Gen.  Drummond's  Official  Report,  December  19,  1813. 


76  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

the  women  of  the  garrison  were  stripped  of  their  clothing  and  many 
of  them  killed,  and  the  persons  of  the  dead  officers  treated  with  shock- 
ing indignity."  * 

The  spoils  of  war,  captured  in  the  fort,  consisted  of  27  cannon,  3,000 
stands  of  arms  and  many  rifles,  a  large  amount  of  ammunition  and 
commissary  stores,  clothing  and  camp  equipage  of  every  description. 

DEVASTATION   OF   THE   FRONTIER. 

When  in  full  control  of  the  fort,  the  British  fired  one  of  the  largest 
cannon  as  a  signal  of  victory,  and  Gen.  Riall,  who,  with  his  blood- 
thirsty soldiers  and  Indians,  was  waiting  at  Queenston  for  the  news, 
at  once  crossed  his  forces  to  Lewiston,  there  to  commence  the  devas- 
tation of  the  frontier. 

Thus  inside  of  10  days  the  control  of  both  Fort  Niagara  and  Fort 
George,  which  included  the  control  of  the  river,  passed,  amid  scenes 
of  slaughter  and  devastation,  from  American  to  British  hands,  and 
once  more  the  flag  of  England  floated  over  the  ramparts  of  Fort 
Niagara. 

Bloody  as  was  the  vengeance  wreaked  on  the  surprised  garrison,  it 
was  not  so  bad  as  that  inflicted  by  the  British  troops  and  their  Indian 
allies,  the  latter  led  by  British  officers  in  war  paint,  on  the  defenseless 
inhabitants  living  between  Fort  Niagara  and  Tonawanda.  Almost 
every  house  in  that  territory  and  all  movable  property  was  burnt,  and 
men,  women,  children  and  even  babes  were  slain  and  scalped. 

Marauding  parties  from  Fort  Niagara  were  sent  out  and  burnt  all 
buildings  to  the  eastward  for  a  distance  of  18  miles. 

Gen.  McClure  blamed  Capt.  Leonard  for  the  loss  of  the  fort, 
charging  him  with  gross  neglect.  Leonard,  within  a  few  days,  gave 
himself  up  to  the  enemy,  retiring  with  his  family  to  Canada.2  Later 
he  returned  and  surrendered  himself.  He  was  tried  by  court-martial 
and  dismissed  from  the  army. 

The  British  held  undisputed  possession  of  the  fort  from  its  capture 
until  the  close  of  the  war. 

Its  occupation  was  of  no  direct  benefit  to  England.  The  entire 
American  Frontier  was  desolate  and  in  ruins.  The  rest  of  the  war  so 
far  as  this  section  was  concerned,  was  carried  on  on  Canadian  soil ; 
and  the  rumored  and  expected  attacks,  to  be  made  from  Fort  Niagara 
on  the  settlement  at  Batavia  and  elsewhere,  never  occurred. 

'J   L  Thompson,  History  of  the  War,  i8i6,pagei86     '  Fay's  Official  Reports,  page  167. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  77 

On  March  27,  1815,  under  article  I  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  the 
fort  was  surrendered  to  and  occupied  by  the  United  States,  and  its 
flag  has  floated  over  it  ever  since. 

On  August  8,  1817,  James  Monroe,  President  of  the  United 
States,  paid  a  brief  visit  to  the  fort. 

In  the  summer  of  1825  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette,  the  guest  of 
the  nation,  paid  a  visit  to  Fort  Niagara.  Major  Thomson,  at  the 
head  of  his  officers,  met  him  outside  the  fort,  and  as  he  entered  the 
gate  a  salute  of  24  guns  was  fired.  He  dined  at  the  fort,  which  he 
was  told  had  been  much  repaired  since  the  war  of  1812,  so  that  no 
traces  of  the  damage  then  done  remained.1 

OPENING   OF   THE   ERIE   CANAL. 

As  already  noted,  all  British  goods  shipped  to  the  West  had  been 
carried  over  the  Canadian  portage  since  1796;  but  the  great  highway 
for  American  commerce  to  and  from  the  rapidly  settling  West  was 
from  Oswego  to  Lewiston,  to  Schlosser,  and  Buffalo ;  and  as  the 
vessels  rounded  the  point  where  Fort  Niagara  stood  it  gave  their 
crews  a  feeling  of  pride,  and  a  sense  of  security,  to  see  on  every  trip 
the  national  flag  floating  over  a  national  fort,  garrisoned  by  national 
troops. 

But  the  fall  of  1825  brought  the  completion  and  official  opening 
of  the  Erie  Canal,  and  the  large  commerce  which  had  passed  this 
way  took  the  new  route.  The  increase  of  a  population,  which  had 
been  largely  dependent  on  the  business  of  the  portage,  was  stopped, 
and  Buffalo,  the  terminus  of  the  Erie  Canal,  rapidly  increased  at  the 
expense  of  the  territory  on  the  lower  Niagara. 

Thus  another  reason  why  Fort  Niagara  should  be  maintained 
as  a  defensive  work,  namely,  the  protection  of  an  important  inland, 
and  yet  a  frontier  commerce,  which  passed  under  its  guns,  was 
removed. 

The  projection  of  the  Welland  Canal,  which  was  completed  in 
1829,  took  away  another  though  a  directly  opposite  reason  for  Fort 
Niagara's  maintenance.  Canadian  commerce,  on  taking  this  new 
and  abandoning  the  Niagara  way  westward,  could  no  longer,  in  the 
event  of  war,  be  harassed  by  Fort  Niagara's  guns. 

So  in  May,  1826,  the  troops  were  withdrawn  and  the  historic  fort 
in  its  entirety  left  in  charge  of  one  man. 
1  Lafayette  in  America,  1829,  vol.  II.,  page  213 


78  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

ANTI-MASONIC   AGITATION. 

In  September,  1826,  Fort  Niagara  was  called  to  the  attention  of  the 
nation  and  the  civilized  world,  even  more  prominently  than  it  had 
ever  been  in  all  its  history,  by  the  Anti-Masonic  movement.  William 
Morgan,  a  resident  of  Batavia,  and  a  Free  Mason,  had  threatened  to 
divulge  the  secrets  of  that  body  in  print.  It  is  generally  credited  that 
members  of  that  order,  failing  to  get  control  of  Morgan's  manuscript 
revelations,  had  him  arrested  on  some  petty  charge  and  jailed  at 
Canandaigua.  On  being  liberated  he  was  thrust  into  a  closed  carriage 


WILLIAM    MORGAN. 


in  waiting  and,  always  accompanied  by  three  men,  with  relays  of 
horses,  taken  through  Rochester,  along  the  Ridge  Road  to  Lewiston, 
and  thence  to  Fort  Niagara,  where  the  driver  was  told  to  stop  near 
the  graveyard.  Here  the  four  men  got  out,  the  carriage  was  sent 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  79 

away,  and  the  party  proceeded  to  the  water's  edge,  got  into  a  boat 
and  crossed  to  Canada,  whence,  after  a  two  hours'  absence,  they  re- 
turned, and  entered  the  fort.  This  was  after  midnight,  September  13, 
1826.  Preparations  had  been  completed  at  Fort  Niagara  for  the  recep- 
tion of  the  kidnapped  man.  He  was  at  once  placed  in  confinement,  but 
tradition  differs  as  to  where  he  was  confined.  The  old  French 
magazine,  the  dark  cell  in  the  "  castle,"  and  the  respective  dark  cells 
in  the  two  block-houses,  being  all  pointed  out  as  the  location.  A  big 
iron  key,  nearly  eleven  inches  in  length,  kept  in  the  office  of  the 
Quartermaster,  is  shown  as  the  key  of  "  Morgan's  dungeon,"  but  it 
throws  no  light  as  to  that  dungeon's  location.  The  magazine  seems 
to  be  the  probable  location.  On  September  i4th  a  steam  boat,  con- 
veying a  number  of  Masons  to  a  meeting  at  Lewiston,  stopped  at  the 
fort's  wharf,  and  several  of  those  on  board  went  into  the  fort  and 
saw  Morgan ;  others  of  the  party  refused  to  enter  it.  On  the  same 
day  it  was  reported  at  Lewiston  "  that  there  was  trouble  at  the  fort." 
Morgan  remained  in  confinement  for  six  days,  often  visited  by  Masons, 
none  others  being  allowed  to  see  him.  He  was  quite  "noisy"  at 
first,  and  his  visitors  tried  to  "  quiet  "  him.  He  refused  to  give  up 
his  manuscript,  or  to  tell  where  it  could  be  found.  He  begged  to  see 
his  wife  and  children,  and  is  reported  to  have  said  several  times  that 
he  would  rather  stay  in  the  magazine  than  be  bled  to  death  by  the 
doctor.  He  made  ineffectual  attempts  to  break  through  the  heavy 
doors  of  the  building. 

Frequent  consultations  were  held  as  to  what  disposition  was  to  be 
made  of  him.  One  plan  was  to  settle  him  on  a  farm  in  Canada; 
another,  to  hand  him  over  to  a  Masonic  commander  of  some  Brit- 
ish war  ship  ;  and  another,  to  drown  him  in  the  lake.  Masons  who  ad- 
mitted having  participated  in  these  consultations  said  they  strenu- 
ously opposed  the  last,  even  to  a  point  of  quarreling  with  their  com- 
rades. 

William  Morgan  was  last  heard  of  in  confinement  in  the  fort  on 
September  19,  1826.  He  disappeared,  and  all  trace  of  him  was  abso- 
lutely lost. 

A  tremendous  excitement,  of  course,  followed  his  disappearance. 
Popular  tradition  said  he  was  taken  blindfolded  by  masked  men  from 
the  fort,  forced  into  a  boat,  which  was  rowed  out  into  the  lake,  and 
that  he  was  dropped  overboard,  heavy  weights  being  attached  to  his 
body. 


8o  OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 

Investigating  committees  were  appointed  everywhere,  and  Fort 
Niagara  thoroughly  examined  by  many  of  them.  The  bed  of  the 
Niagara  River  near  the  fort  and  far  out  into  the  lake  was  dredged  for 
weeks,  but  without  result. 

A  little  more  than  a  year  afterwards  a  body  was  found  on  the  lake 
shore  over  twenty  miles  east  of  Fort  Niagara.  A  coroner's  jury  said 
"  unknown,"  but  the  anti-Masons  thought  it  was  Morgan ;  had  it 
exhumed,  proved  its  identification  as  Morgan  and  had  it  removed  to 
Batavia  and  buried.  It  was  "  a  good  enough  Morgan  for  them  till 
after  election."  Additional  information  having  subsequently  been  ob- 
tained, another  inquest  was  held,  and  it  was  proved  to  be  the  body 
of  one  Timothy  Monroe. 

Several  men,  including  the  Sheriff  of  Niagara  County,  the  Keeper 
of  Fort  Niagara,  and  several  citizens  of  the  neighborhood,  were  ar- 
rested and  long  afterwards  tried.  No  proof  of  Morgan's  death  could 
be  produced.  None  of  those  sworn  at  the  trials  for  his  abduction 
were  at  the  magazine  when  Morgan  left  it,  nor  could  they  learn  his 
fate.  Some  witnesses  refused  to  testify,  three  men  plead  guilty,  and 
one  was  convicted  of  complicity  in  Morgan's  abduction.  The  Sheriff 
of  Niagara  County  was  removed  from  office. 

Thus,  within  the  historic  walls  of  old  Fort  Niagara,  where  William 
Morgan  was  last  seen  alive,  occurred  the  birth  of  the  Anti-Masonic 
party,  which,  for  years  afterward,  in  New  York  and  several  other 
states,  exercised  such  a  great  political  influence. 

Fort  Niagara  at  this  time  was  a  desolate  place,  without  a  garrison. 
The  only  house  near  it  was  a  small  ferry  house,  occupied  by  the  man 
who  had  charge  of  the  fort. 

No  matter  what  their  intentions  in  regard  to  him  were,  it  was  just 
exactly  the  kind  of  a  place  for  Morgan's  abductors  to  confine  him  in 
while  they  were  deliberating  as  to-  what  should  be  their  final  step  in 
their  unlawful  course  ;  —  being  a  lonely,  uninhabited  spot,  whose  owner 
in  those  days  of  slow  communication  could  not  interfere,  with  their 
proceedings;  located  a  mile  away  from  any  human  habitation,  on 
this  side  of  the  river,  and  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  people  across 
the  river. 

MODERN    FORT   NIAGARA. 

Since  1826  Fort  Niagara  has  not  been  considered  as  a  really 
defensive  work.  Indeed,  in  the  early  part  of  that  year  it  was  con- 
sidered of  so  little  importance  that,  as  already  noted,  the  garrison 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA    IN  HISTORY.  81 

was  withdrawn,  and  for  about  ten  years  it  remained  an  abandoned 
and  deserted  post.  About  1836  it  was  re-occupied  and  garrisoned, 
and  has  been  occupied  without  interruption  ever  since. 

In  old  days  in  the  first  story  of  the  Castle  was  the  large  mess 
room,  used  also  as  an  assembly  room  on  all  occasions,  a  large  spacious 
apartment  from  whose  windows  one  looked  out  on  the  broad  waters 
of  Lake  Ontario.  This  famous  apartment,  wherein  the  French  and 
English  commandants  at  the  fort,  as  representatives  of  their  respective 
sovereigns,  met  and  treated  with  the  various  sachems  of  the  Indian 
tribes  —  wherein  were  held  military  and  commercial  councils  and 
social  gatherings  —  has  long,  long  ago  been  partitioned  off  into 
several  small  rooms.  Somewhere  within  the  fort,  in  an  unmarked  and 
unknown  grave,  rest  the  remains  of  General  Prideaux,  to  whom  Pitt 
entrusted  the  responsible  duty  of  capturing  the  fort  in  1759. 

Somewhere  also  within  the  ramparts  tradition  says  sums  of  gold 
and  silver,  buried  at  various  times  and  for  various  reasons,  lie  con- 
cealed. Many  applications  have  been  made  for  permission  to  dig 
for  and  unearth  these  treasures,  but  all  have  been  refused. 

In  1839  tne  stone  wall  towards  the  river  was  constructed. 

The  "  Patriot  War"  in  1837  came  very  near  involving  this  country 
in  another  war  with  England  along  this  frontier ;  in  which  case  Fort 
Niagara  would  again  have  been  brought  into  prominence.  But 
England's  apology  for  the  Caroline  episode  prevented  such  a  thing. 

In  1861  the  present  brick  walls  were  constructed,  outside  the  line 
of  the  old  earthworks. 

In  1865  a  lighthouse  was  established  here,  the  light  being  placed 
on  top  of  the  "castle." 

In  1873  the  present  comely  lighthouse  was  erected. 

The  entire  post  has  been  rebuilt,  a  few  buildings  at  a  time,  officers' 
quarters,  barracks,  hospital,  etc.,  within  the  past  twenty  years,  all  lo- 
cated south  of  the  "old  "  fort,  leaving  that  as  a  hallowed  memory  of 
the  past. 

In  1880,  the  present  rifle  range  was  constructed,  and  is  used  annu- 
ally by  the  Department  of  the  East. 

In  1893,  a  life  saving  station  was  established  here. 

The  land  embraced  in  the  fort  reserve  amounts  to  288  acres,  and  is 
in  latitude  43°  15'  N.,  longitude  2°  west  from  Washington. 

And  so  we  come  down  now  to  the  Centennial  of  the  evacuation 
of  the  "old"  fort  by  the  British  in  1796. 


82 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 


PLAN    OF    OLD    FORT    NIAGARA,    1896. 

1.  The  Castle,  or  Mess  House  ;  commenced  1725. 

2.  The  Bake  House  ;  built  1 762. 

3.  Modern  Wooden  Houses. 

4.  Hot  Shot  Furnace  ;  built  before  1812  ;  rebuilt  later. 

5.  French  Magazine;  built  before  1759. 

6.  French  Barracks;  built  1757. 

7.  Southwest  Block  House;  built  1756. 

8.  Northeast  Block  House;  built  1756. 

9.  Life  Saving  Station. 
10.  Cemetery. 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY.  83 

Part  of  the  I3th  Infantry,  who  came  to  this  place  and  were  in  the 
battle  of  Queenston,  in  1812,  are  now  garrisoning  Fort  Niagara;  and 
by  a  singular  coincidence,  this  centennial  finds  in  command  of  this 
fort  an  officer  of  the  same  rank,  and  bearing  the  same  name,  though 
serving  under  a  different  flag,  as  he  who  commanded  it  100  years  ago, 
Col.  Smith  ;  at  this  date  Col.  Alfred  T.  Smith,  U.  S.  A. 

A   BRIEF   SUMMARY. 

Such  is  "a  brief  history  of  old  Fort  Niagara."  The  spot  where  it 
stands  has  been  the  scene  of  many  contests,  beginning  with  the  days 
when  the  redmen  resisted  the  erection  of  any  sort  of  a  fortification 
here. 

It  has  seen  a  fort  erected  and  demolished ;  it  has  seen  rival 
European  nations  plotting,  striving  and  contending  for  its  ownership ; 
it  has  seen,  during  French  rule,  the  reflection  of  Parisian  life  and 
manners  and  the  horrors  of  a  political  prison ;  it  has  seen  the 
savages  sacking  the  fort,  thieving  not  butchering,  for  there  was  peace 
between  the  French  and  Indians  at  the  time ;  it  has  seen  the  horrors 
of  a  siege,  and  a  surrender. 

It  has  seen  the  ascendency  of  the  English  and  the  unbridled  license 
that  their  officers  of  that  day  gave  to  their  lust  and  passions.  It 
was  during  the  ownership  of  both  these  nations  the  greatest  market 
for  Indian  trade  —  especially  in  furs  and  brandy  —  in  the  country. 
To  this  spot  the  savages  continually  flocked,  often,  yes,  very  often, 
bringing  with  them  wretched  white  prisoners,  many  of  whom,  to  the 
credit  of  both  the  French  and  the  English,  were  ransomed  by  the 
officers  of  the  fort. 

It  has  seen  the  most  shameless  plans  prepared  here  by  British 
leaders  and  Indian  chiefs,  the  natures  of  both  being  as  much  that 
of  fiends  as  of  men  formed  in  the  image  of  their  Maker. 

It  has  seen  marauding  parties  sallying  out  from  here  to  rob, 
murder  and  destroy.  It  has  witnessed  bloody  strife  between  the 
great  English-speaking  nations  of  the  old  and  new  world  respectively. 

And  to-day  the  old  fort  remains,  as  a  relic,  but  bearing  within  its 
ramparts  and  in  the  earthworks  outside,  the  standing  records  of 
history  for  at  least  150  years  back.  And  with  a  record  back  of  that, 
which  is  somewhat  traced  in  this  article  for  over  another  hundred 
years ;  and  back  of  that  still,  is  an  unknown  history  when  this  spot 
of  land  was  owned  by  the  Neuter  nation. 


84 


OLD  FORT  NIAGARA   IN  HISTORY. 


It  is  sincerely  to  be  hoped  that  the  United  States  will  forever  guard 
and  preserve  these  buildings  and  the  earthworks  of  the  old  fort,  and 
not  allow  them  to  be  razed  or  restored.  They  should  be  allowed  to 
remain  intact,  as  memorials  of  the  history  of  former  generations. 

And  so,  in  the  belief  that  I  have  proved  the  statement,  I  close  sub- 
stantially as  I  began,  by  asserting  that  no  one  spot  of  land  in  North 
America  has  played  a  more  important  part,  been  more  coveted,  and 
exerted  a  greater  influence,  both  in  peace  and  war,  on  the  control,  on 
the  growth,  on  the  settlement,  and  on  the  civilization  of  the  country, 
than  the  few  acres  embraced  within  the  limits  of  old  Fort  Niagara  ! 


HOT   SHOT    FURNACE. 


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